I had dinner with my cousin on Saturday. We went to the Cheesecake Factory. For a restaurant with such an anti-vegan name, they sure do know how to accommodate us. They’ll substitute any of the meats in their dishes with portobello mushrooms. I noticed a pasta on the menu called “Evelyn’s Favorite Pasta.” I wasn’t hungry enough for pasta, but kept thinking of it all weekend. Tonight I made something similar with my all time favorite, eggplant.
1 medium eggplant, cubed
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp lemon juice
6 oz whole wheat spaghetti
1/2 cup vegan pasta sauce
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
1 tbsp fresh basil, chopped
1 tbsp vegan parmesan cheese
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1. To roast the eggplant, preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a small bowl, combine olive oil, parsley, garlic and lemon juice. Place eggplant cubes in a large bowl. Stir in the olive oil mixture. Transfer eggplant to glass baking dish. Bake for 20 minutes. Set aside when done.
2. Cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain pasta and place in medium-large pan.
3. Stir in the pasta sauce, pine nuts, basil, parmesan cheese and red pepper flakes. Cook for 2-3 minutes over low heat.
4. Carefully stir in the roasted eggplant. Serve immediately with ciabatta bread.
October 18, 2006 at 20:27
Looks good. You should try subbing toasted walnuts for the pine nuts some night, gives you extra omega-3 goodness.
October 19, 2006 at 20:48
Oooooh I love eggplant! It’s so yummy. I did not know that about The Cheesecake Factory. If I ever go back I’ll keep that in mind. Andrew likes that place so I try to be accomidating but it’s so hard! How’s your knee doing by the way?
October 24, 2006 at 16:40
Hey, I like the new layout! It looks very clean.
October 24, 2006 at 16:48
Hannah: thanks ! it looks really plain right now, but i’m planning to work on it a bit… i needed change.
October 25, 2006 at 10:07
Your dish looks fantastic. It’s only 10 in the morning and that picture is making me crave lunch!
Just a word of caution about The Cheesecake Factory: apparently most of their pasta contains eggs. I found this link that might help: http://www.vegsource.com/talk/veganism/messages/7207.html
October 25, 2006 at 10:08
Laura: they also have rice pasta which you can sub.
May 8, 2008 at 16:07
Thanks for the recipe, it looks great! I’m going to try it out this weekend.
Just a note to any readers who may be interested in the Evelyn’s Favorite pasta: I’ve read that all of the pastas at the Cheesecake Factory are egg based. FYI.
May 8, 2008 at 16:09
Whups. I didn’t read liz’s comment before I posted mine. Cool! I’ll definitely ask for the rice pasta the next time I’m there!