Aubergine Pasta Bake

 Aubergine Pasta Bake

By Namit Kathoria

 

Preparation time: 40-45 minutes

Cooking time: 40-45 minutes

 

Serves 4-6 portions

Ingredients:

Vegan cheese for baking

2 tablespoons tapioca starch

6 tablespoons nutritional yeast

2 teaspoons garlic powder

¼ teaspoon sea salt

¾ cup raw cashew nuts (left to soak in boiling water for about 10 minutes)

¾ cup almonds with skin on (left to soak in boiling water for about 10 minutes)

1 ½ cups oats milk

1 inch fresh turmeric roughly chopped

 

Pasta bake

250g wholegrain penne pasta cooked (buckwheat or spelt)

1 jar (550-600g) green or brown lentils rinsed and drained

1 jar (600ml) passata

Some olive oil for cooking

1 medium sized aubergine diced

1 white onion diced finely

2 chillies diced (seeds removed if you want it to be less spicy) – optional

3 garlic cloves grated

½ teaspoon dried rosemary

1 ½ teaspoons dried basil

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 small/ ½ medium zucchini diced

2-3 small carrots diced

1 tablespoon tamari sauce

½ teaspoon rock salt

2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

½ teaspoon ground black pepper

 

Garnish with a handful of fresh chopped parsley and some dried Italian mixed herbs

 

Preparation:

1.      Soak the almonds and the cashew nuts for at least 10-15 minutes in boiling water.

2.      Cook the pasta until it is al dente.

3.      Wash and drain the lentils from the jar.

4.      Chop up the parsley, the onion, the aubergine, the zucchini, the carrots and the chili. Grate the garlic and preheat the oven to 180°C.

5.      Heat up some of the oil on a medium to high heat adding one piece of the onion to the pan. Once it starts to sizzle, add in the rest of the onion. Cook for 4-5 minutes until the onion becomes translucent.

6.      Add in the garlic and chillies with a little bit more oil plus the herbs, the salt and the black pepper. Stir and mix for about 30 seconds until the aroma is released.

7.      Now add in the aubergine, the carrots and some more oil if you need to. Stir and cook for about 5-6 minutes. Whilst that is cooking you can make up the vegan cheese in the blender (for one minute on a medium to fast speed) and grease one to two large baking trays with some olive oil.

8.      Add in the passata, the zucchini, the balsamic vinegar, the lentils, the tamari sauce, the dried basil, the oregano and the rosemary. Cook that for about a minute more.

9.      Mix in the pasta.

10.   Add the mixture from the saucepan to the baking trays. Top with the vegan cheese mixture.

11.   Put in the oven for about 15 minutes until the cheese darkens slightly.

12.   Take out of the oven and wait for a minute or two for it to cool down a little and then garnish with some fresh parsley and some dried mixed Italian herbs.

13.   Serve that with a large bowl of green leave salad and some cherry tomatoes.

Did you know?

Raw tomatoes contain vitamin C and lentils like all legumes contain iron in a form called non-heme iron. The vitamin C from the tomatoes help you to absorb more of the iron from the lentils.

 

Where does your protein come from?

It comes from a combination of the lentils and the wholegrain pasta. The lentils act as the legume and the pasta acts as the grain. The combination of the two gives you all of the essential amino acids that you need. In addition to that the recipe contains cashew nuts and almonds both of which are excellent sources of protein as well.

 

To get more inspiration for healthy plant-based recipes please see our new nutrition and recipe book “Life” which is due to come out in 2022.