I stole this recipe for Roasted Eggplant & Tomato Orzo Pasta from a website called cookieandkate.com. Eggplant and tomatoes are roasted in the oven with olive oil, salt and pepper. While the vegetables roast, cooked orzo is tossed with fresh herbs and cheese. A homemade lemon garlic dressing is mixed into the orzo with the cooked vegetables. Everything is tossed together and served room temperature or cold. This recipe is an easy to make weeknight meal or side dish. Roasting the eggplant and mixing it with the rest of this dish, makes trying eggplant less scary.
“How can people say they don’t eat eggplant when God loves the color and the French love the name? I don’t understand.” Jeff Smith, The Frugal Gourmet (see more quotes in the Quotes tab)
Combine 1 medium purple eggplant (1 lb), sliced into ¾ inch cubes, 2 tbsp olive oil, salt & pepper in a storage baggie, marinate for at least 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 400 F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper, arrange eggplant in single layer. Roast on middle rack until tender about 25 minutes, tossing halfway.
On a separate baking sheet lined with parchment paper, toss 1 cup halved cherry tomatoes (or any tomatoes you have on hand) with 1 tsp olive oil and salt and pepper. Place tomatoes in oven after turning eggplant. Cook about 12 minutes.
Cook ½ lb orzo according to package. Reserve 1 cup pasta water. Transfer orzo to a bowl. Whisk together 2 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp lemon juice, 2 minced cloves of garlic, ¼ tsp salt, ⅛ tsp red pepper flakes and pinch of black pepper.
Drizzle dressing over warm orzo, toss to coat. Add the eggplant to the orzo.
Roasted tomatoes are added next.
Next add ⅓ cup crumbled feta, ¼ cup chopped fresh basil and ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley.
Toss to combine and serve room temperature or cold.
Roasted Eggplant & Tomato Orzo Pasta
Ingredients
Roasted Eggplant
- 1 medium purple eggplant 1 lb, sliced into ¾ inch cubes
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- Salt & pepper
Roasted Tomatoes
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes halved
- 1 tsp olive oil
- Salt & pepper
Orzo
- ½ lb whole wheat orzo
- ⅓ cup crumbled feta
- ¼ cup chopped fresh basil
- ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
- 2 tbsp pine nuts toasted
Lemon garlic dressing
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 cloves garlic pressed or minced
- ¼ tsp salt more to taste
- ⅛ tsp red pepper flakes
- Black pepper
Instructions
Eggplant
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Combine ingredients in a storage baggie, marinate for at least 30 minutes.
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Preheat oven to 400 F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper, arrange eggplant in single layer. Roast on middle rack until tender about 25 minutes, tossing halfway.
Tomatoes
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On a separate baking sheet lined with parchment paper, toss halved tomatoes with olive oil and salt and pepper. Place tomatoes in oven after turning eggplant. Cook about 12 minutes.
Orzo
-
Cook orzo according to package. Reserve 1 cup pasta water. Transfer orzo to a bowl.
Dressing
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Whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt, red pepper flakes and black pepper. Drizzle over warm orzo, toss to coat. Add eggplant, tomatoes, feta, basil, parsley and pine nuts. Toss to combine. If pasta is too dry add reserved pasta water and/or olive oil. Taste, you may need to add ¼ tsp salt and black pepper.
Recipe Notes
Mozzarella cheese can be substituted for feta, also I omitted the pine nuts. You can also use any type of tomato you prefer