Smoked aubergine ragu tagliatelle

Charred smokey minced aubergine in a rich flavoursome tomato sauce with soy chunks making it into a ragu. Stir in some freshly cooked tagliatelle, top with vegan parmesan and enjoy!

I’ll admit it, aubergine or eggplant is not my favourite vegetable so I am always on the lookout for ways to cook it that I will actually love and this recipe is my all time favourite aubergine recipe so far. I cook the aubergine on an open gas flame until charred on the outside and this cooks the aubergine through to the middle so its soft and the charred skin gives the vegetable an intensely smokey flavour that can only be achieved using the charring method. When I first made this dish I fed it to my boyfriend who hates aubergine and he really want keen on the idea but he absolutely loved it! So this is a real winner to convince an aubergine hater. I added tvp or soy chunks in the sauce to make it a bit of a ragu style. The perfect compliment to this smokey aubergine is a well cooked tomato sauce so if you have time please do leave the sauce to simmer for as long as you can. Mix this gorgeous sauce with some cooked pasta, top with some vegan parmesan and enjoy the smokey, rich goodness!

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Ingredients and substitutes-

• Aubergine/eggplant - I used a medium sized regular aubergine from the supermarket for this recipe. You can use more than one if you prefer and ither varieties will also work just make sure they are cooked through before removing them from the heat.

• TVP- You can just use aubergine in this recipe but I wanted a little more texture so I used tvp chunks. I would usually use the tvp mince but I couldn’t find any in my town. I liked how the tvp chunks turned out and I would use them again. There is no need to rehydrate the tvp as you would for other recipes as the tomato juice hydrates them in the sauce. Again feel free to substitute with your favourite plant based mince or ‘meat’.

• Tomatoes- I used one tin of chopped tomatoes as I like a chunkier texture ragu with my tvp chunks and then also a carton of passata to bulk out the sauce and add that deep, rich tomato flavour.

• Seasoning- This sauce is pretty basic as we want the aubergine to do the talking so I used regular mixed herbs or Italian seasoning, minced garlic and salt and cracked black pepper.

• Tagliatelle- Tagliatelle works well in this recipe but I have also had good results with regular old spaghetti. Feel free to use whatever pasta you have in the cupboard.

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Top Tips!

Burning the aubergine-

It may feel unnatural to burn food but the only part that burns on this is the skin, the flesh is perfectly cooked. Burning the skin gives the deep smokey flavour that is essential for this dish. To tell if the flesh is cooked make sure each side gets an even amount of time on the flame and the aubergine must feel a little squishy.

And now for the recipe!

Smoked aubergine pasta

​Serves- 4 Time- 45 minutes

Ingredients-

• 1 medium aubergine

• 1 white onion, diced

• 1 tbsp minced garlic

• 1 tbsp mixed herbs

• 1 tin of chopped tomatoes

• 1 carton of passata

• 100g (dry weight) TVP chunks

• 300g (dry weight) tagliatelle pasta

• Salt and pepper to taste

• Vegan parmesan to top

Method-

1. Make a few stab holes in the aubergine and pop on to an open gas flame (take care). Turn the aubergine occasionally until it becomes squishy and the skin blackened.

2. Now turn off the heat and pop the aubergine into a container and put a lid on, set aside.

3. Now to make the sauce, fry the diced onion in olive oil until soft.

4. Add In the garlic and mixed herbs.

5. Pop the tinned tomatoes in and then the passata, adding a little water into the containers to ensure you have all of the juice in there too. Put the lid on and leave this to simmer.

6. Now the aubergine should be cooled you can peel off the skin and discard it.

7. Chop the top off of the aubergine and chop up lengthways, turn around and chop up the other way until it is minced up.

8. Take the lid off of the sauce, add the tvp, salt and pepper and aubergine mince.

9. Simmer until the tvp is cooked, meanwhile cook the pasta to packet instructions.

10. Add the pasta into the sauce and mix really well.

11. Serve up topped with some vegan parmesan and enjoy!

FAQ-

·         What if I don’t have a gas stove?- I used a camp stove for this as I only have an electric hob. However if you don’t have a camp stove either feel free to bake or grill the aubergines close to the heat. But be aware the flavour will not be smokey. You could add some smoked paprika or liquid smoke but I do recommend the charring method the most for the best flavours.

·         Can I switch the protein?- Of course, I use TVP in this but vegan mince would work or shop bought vegan chicken. You’ll just need to brown these off separately before popping into the sauce to avoid the protein being too soggy. If you’d like it without the ‘meat’ just cook up two aubergines for a purely aubergine ‘mince’.

Why not try these other pasta recipes?

• Tempeh mac n cheese

• Spinach and basil pesto pasta

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