Okay, here’s the deal…Greek Lent began two Mondays ago and Greek Easter is on April 19th. I observed a “fast” for one week and I’ll fast again during Holy Week (just before Easter).
I’ve made a shift in my diet whereby I’ve cut down on meat. Less poultry, less beef and pork. I will never go “veg”, I don’t want to go “veg”, I like meat too much.
I eat alot more seafood, I’m eating more whole wheat bread and I prefer fruits to desserts. Pasta is another type of food I adore. All one has to do is visit one of the premier Italian producers of pastas’ websites and one could try out a new dish for each day of the year.
I like my standard pasta dishes – they are a form of comfort food but with “quick delivery”. Most good sauces are ready before or on time when your pasta is “al dente”.
Here’s another one of those dishes, as shared recently on one of Christine Cushing’s shows (Food Network Canada). The show’s focus was on oils and this dish is all about quality ingredients, like olive oil.
Go on….PRINT THE RECIPE FROM HERE….got it? Good!
Now get a pen and paper and jot down some recommendations for this dish:
- use a good extra-virgin olive oil
- good, ripe tomatoes (cherry or roma work well here)
- use fresh basil leaves. Don’t go & use that dried basil that’s been sitting in the back of your pantry. If you don’t have any, make this dish another time
- use those tiny baby eggplants (if you can find them). They have little or no seeds, no bitterness and they are remarkably sweet
- make your own breadcrumbs. I cringe when I think of how many times I bought breadcrumbs from the market that resembled sawdust more than breadcrumbs
Making your own breadcrumbs is very easy. You throw your stale/old bread in the food processor and whiz it up until you’ve reached your desired texture. Next your place in in a baking tray/pan and place the breadcrumbs in a pre-heated oven of 300F. Bake off until the breadcrumbs feel dry and then just turn off the oven, leave your breadcrumbs to dry out further. Throw the breadcrumbs in a zip-lock bag (or other airtight container) until needed.
Finally, you might be wondering…who’s Nina? I’m not sure but the title sounds funny and it’s an Italian slang: Pasta Cu L’agghia (pasta Koo Log-Ya) simply means “pasta with garlic”.
I love this dish. It help me out with last week when I craved something different yet Lent-friendly, the sauce is a raw sauce ie. no cooking and the breadcrumbs pay homage to “cucina povera”, when many Italians couldn’t afford to grate cheese on their pasta. Breadcrumbs were the poorman’s grated cheese.
These are tough times, many people are unsure of the future but we’ll all work through it. Here’s to hope, eating well and making the most of what we have.
Think about it…life is still pretty damn good!
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© 2007-2009 Peter Minakis
49 Responses
Your picture is much better than the one of Food TV. I like Christine’s recipes. They always look so tasty. Hope you’ll do well during the Holy week Peter.
mmm.I love to make hommade breadcrumbs. You have another winner here Peter!
I love the simplicity of this dish, and baby eggplants really are much better than the larger ones.
I agree nothing like homemade bread crumbs – i like to add a bit of oil & chilli and then bake them – yummo!
That looks gorgeous. so true about the fresh herbs. using dried ones are as good as using any dried garden leaves. I don’t like cheese on my pasta so the poorman’s version suits me well.
Looks absolutely amazing. Home run here. You are so right about the tough times. Here in Arizona it has been hit bad, with all the mortgage disasters. But yes, I lead an absolutely blessed life!
A delicious pasta dish! Really beautiful and tasty!
cheers,
Rosa
Love the look of that dish and yes I’ve printed the recipe! Thank you Peter, I will make that this very week.
Love your pictures, they make me want to eat that right now and it’s only 6.30AM!
You should hang out with the Nina’s more often(he-he). Great flavors and texture here, Peter!!!
a reallly enjoyable post and a delicious looking dish
That’s a delicious pasta dish.
So simple but so tasty!!!
Mamma mia. I have been wanting to try a recipe lately with breadcrumbs so thansk for the inspiration and tipe Peter:D
you know, to be honest, I think yours look waaaay better.
I have a slightly out of control obsession with putting breadcrumbs on pasta – seriously. In fact, I might do a post about it! It looks amazing, especially the breadcrumbs!!
Looks wonderful, Peter! Love that you are promoting Canadian chefs too!
That’s a dish for me to make on nights I’m home alone! I love me some eggplant & Matt hates it
Wow the pasta looks so delicious, you have this way of making even the most simple dish looks droolie, i am sure when i make this it wwon’t looks so delicious.
You and me both with the pasta; I never get tired of it.
This looks so good. I have to try this, but I know I won’t be able to find baby eggplants around here, I’ve looked.
P,
Breadcrumbs on pasta are my thing!
I love this dish…….eggplant is also my favorite thing!
Dieting, and this dish might make me cave!
Pasta! Yes, yes yes I love this dish, and will definitely be on the lookout for these baby eggplants at my grocer.
This looks like a brighter, fresher version of Pasta alla Norma, one of my faves. I love the use of a salsa cruda. I do that a lot in the summertime. It looks fantastic! I want to run out and make some right now!
yum. i enjoy all the ingredients in this dish. actually, “enjoy” is an understatement. let’s go with “adore.” :)
What a beautiful pasta dish. It looks fantastic! I really need to try eggplant again (I had a bad experience as a kid) I am sure I would love this.
This looks delicious! Springtime on a fork.
Great combination of flavors and adding the sauteed breadcrumbs takes it ‘over the top’.
You’re making me lust after the tiny baby eggplants… srsly. That caramelization has me reeling. So much flavor…
Like you pasta is one of my favourite food groups. Simple and yummy every time. This dish looks amazing, Peter.
This is a pasta dish that I have made before!! Simple yet so delicious flavours!! It is all about good, eh excellent ingredients that are in season!!! MMMMMMMMMMM……
Whoever Nina is, she made one fabulous dish. This looks SO good! I’m with you, though – I could never go totally veg, or even totally seafood. Phew, I was starting to think I was the only one ;)
looks great, peter. i liked how you ended the post w/ a ray of sunshine. we will all work thru this hard time – and good eating (cheaply and simply!) will help us get through this.
What a pretty dish, and looks so healthy too! I’m trying to incorporate more fish into my diet and less meat as well. Thanks for the breadcrumbs tip ^^
I didn’t know the breadcrumbs… Thank you for the great idea !
Hi Peter, I really enjoyed reading this post. I learnt something today the poorman’s parmesan cheese, fantastic. We all have stale bread and should make good use of it.
My dad always told me that the secret to great food was to use fresh and quality ingredients. That’s why he spent a whole day at the biggest market in the world each week shopping for the restaurant. You are right, sometimes is better to make something some other time if you don’t have something fresh. That’s why I am going to bookmark this and try when I get fresh basil from my garden – yes I am starting one this year :)
I have a big run tomorrow, and was looking for a good pasta dish to make. This one is on the list, looks so flavorful.
I love this dish Peter! And you are right about mini eggplants, they are so sweet and tender once you have them there is no going back.
I really like your great attitude, sometimes it’s hard to be positive when you don’t know how the future will hold. Yes, time is tough at the moment, but good food like this will always be able to cheer us up.
Cheers,
elra
The fresh breadcrumbs make a huge differnece in a dish like this. Love the flavors here and you’re right, it is a substantial Lent friendly dish. Thanks for the idea!
Beautiful dish Peter and using fresh breadcrumbs will certainly do this dish justice . Very stunning photos of this dish.
Pasta with eggplant! I know I am going to love this one. :)
This is similar to a dish we make all the time. You have to have those good breadcrumb pasta recipes. I love the eggplant in this!
Gorgeous dish! It’s definitely my kind of pasta. What a fantastic recipe:)
this looks so good and easy [us your photo is much better then food networks.
Looks so yummy with those breadcrumbs! I don’t know if I’ve ever had baby eggplant, but I’m an equal opportunity eggplant eater! Your Lenten observances have some similarities and some differences with my own. I so enjoy learning about them, and I echo your closing sentiments.
Delicious looking dish! I need to rediscover using breadcrumbs as an accent.
This looks gorgeous. I could survive the fast with meals like this.
I recently attended a cooking class at our “Farmers Market” and one of the vendors (an Italian farmer) demonstrated almost exactly the same dish, but,used fresh beans instead of eggplants which he cooked with the pasta. With our bad economic times,this dish can fill a lot of tummies plus it’s so delicious and economical.
love it – pasta is my bff