On Monday night I made what is one of my most favorite meals. Chicken sausage, eggplant, tomatoes, and mushrooms tossed with some wheat pasta. It is amazing and so simple!
First I cube the eggplant, wash and rough chop the mushrooms and put them in a 13×9 greased pan. Then I through in a carton of cherry tomatoes add some salt, pepper, balsamic vinegar. The whole thing goes in the oven at 350 for …. maybe about an hour, maybe 45 minutes. Some stirring along the way. Then I either pan fry or bake the sausage on a broiling pan. If I bake it, then cube it as well. It probably takes about 30 minutes to bake, but it saves turning on another burner. Cook up the pasta when the tomatoes start to blister.
When it all comes together, toss and serve! Add some parmesan on top if you like! It is an awesome dish and I really love it. It’s also fun because you can vary it up. You can mix up some of the veggies, change up the balsamic as well. You could add red wine, some olive oil, or maybe marsala. I like using balsamic because it is very low calorie. You could also use some cooked chicken which is a little healthier than the chicken sausage, but I like using the sun-dried tomatoes.
Another great addition could be sun-dried tomatoes or capers. Now that I think about it, I am DEFINITELY adding capers next time. As my husband says, the are little nuggets of joy. This meal also pairs very nicely with red wine and maybe some vanilla sorbet for dessert. It’s great for a dinner part because of its simplicity but also because you can prepare most things ahead of time and do a lot of clean up before guests arrive. No one wants to see a dirty kitchen! Another great dinner party point: it’s a great if you have a vegetarian coming over because you can separate out another dish and simply not add the sausage. This way your guest enjoys the same thing as everyone else, minus the meat component.
Definitely next dinner party meal!
Menu:
Rice Blini’s with Capers and a cheese plate
Pasta dish with a side salad and a bottle of pinot or shiraz…
Vanilla sorbet with clemencello
YUM!!
Happy Eating!
Posted on February 11, 2010
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