Vegan MoFo day 29 - Eggplant

I don't totally know why, but every time I make my husband eggplant he swears it tastes like it's got ground beef in it. So if that's the kind of heartiness you're going for, throw in some eggplant. It's ugly rainy here in NYC-apparently it's supposed to snow- so this fit the bill.

Last night I made pasta. I found mezze penne which is a smaller cuter version of penne rigate. For the sauce, I sauteed lots of garlic in olive oil, added some chopped eggplant (yeah I threw it in the food processor, it was already roasted, but you could do this with raw and just saute), I also added some TJ's soy chorizo, then some oyster mushrooms (processed them, too) that I needed to use and had no plans for. I added some tomato sauce I already made, but you could just throw in some canned tomatoes if you don't have prepared sauce. I added fresh chopped basil, then some Penzys Pizza Seasoning (Italian seasoning works-add some ground fennel if you have it.)

Topped it with some ground almond/nooch/breadcrumb/italian seasoning/parsley concoction I keep in the fridge. This version didn't have pine nuts, but I usually use that in the topping. Topping is totally not necessary, but looks pretty when you serve it and seems to soak up the sauce making it even heartier.

Now that I'm writing it up, I wish I had remembered to bring the leftovers for lunch. I did bring the stuffed potato from Sunday's Iron Chef, and apple pie my friend made special with Earth Balance margerine instead of butter just for me, YAY!