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I really can’t contain my love for eggplant, especially when it’s paired with pasta and ricotta cheese. I didn’t coat the eggplant in bread crumbs – instead, I sprinkled a little bit of whole wheat bread crumbs with some spices on each piece of eggplant before flipping it over in the pan so it has a nice crust without being too heavy. This dish is super easy and you can make the ricotta cream in less than 2 minutes. You can also make this dish with zucchini noodles instead of spaghetti!
Recipe: (serves 4)
- 1 large or 2 small eggplants, cut into rounds about 1/2 inch thick
- 1/3 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
- 4 oz. whole wheat thin spaghetti or zucchini noodles (2 oz. of thin spaghetti should have a diameter of the size of a quarter when bunched together in your hand, so two of these!)
- 1 cup ricotta cheese (I used part skim)
- 2 tablespoons half & half
- 1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
- tomato sauce (I used Raos Marinara – my dad’s favorite, it’s delicious!)
- olive oil
- salt & pepper
- parmesan cheese, garnish
Instructions:
- Heat a large pan to medium-high heat.
- Drizzle about 2 tablespoons olive oil into the pan.
- Add eggplant so it makes a single layer in the pan – you will have to do this in a couple batches!
- Add more olive oil to a small bowl, and brush the tops of each eggplant slice.
- Sprinkle with a light layer of bread crumbs, salt and pepper.
- Once browned on the first side, flip each egg plant and cover for about 2 minutes.
- When each slice of eggplant is nice and browned on each side, remove from pan and start the next batch.
- Cook pasta according to package or box. (if you are using zucchini noodles, I leave them raw – so just use a spiralizer to make the noodles and all them to each serving bowl.)
- In a separate bowl, add ricotta cheese, half & half, salt & pepper to taste, and 2 Tablespoons fresh basil.
- Mix ricotta cream until combined.
- Heat tomato sauce in a small sauce pan.
- Time to assemble the bowls! Add pasta, tomato sauce, egg plant, ricotta cream, and top with fresh basil and parmesan! 🙂 Very easy, super tasty!
