Baked Chickpeas-Eggplant Pasta Salad

Pasta…Everyone’s favorite!!! Pasta is the most common and versatile meal which never fails whether it’s get-together, potluck, birthday parties or weeknight dinner. The best thing about pasta is it can be served Hot or Cold with hot bowl of soup or garlic bread. The most common pasta recipe is pasta with hot marinara/pasta or Alfredo sauce. I don’t like Alfredo sauce much so, I like to eat Pasta with Marinara/ Arrabbiata Sauce. For a change, this time I’ve tried to make it healthier and unlike traditional recipe I introduced some new and interesting ingredients

Ingredients:

1 Medium Size Eggplant

1 Cup Cooked Chickpeas

2 Cup Pasta (I used my all-time favorite Trader Joe’s Gladiator :-o)

2 Tbs Olive Oil

Salt to taste

1 Tsp Chili Powder

3/4 Cup Pasta/Marinara Sauce

Bunch of Cherry Tomatoes / 1 Small Tomato/ 1/2 Cup Canned Tomatoes

Pinch of Italian Herbs

2 Garlic cloves

Make it:

• Preheat oven to 400 F. Take a baking sheet and line it with parchment Paper.
• Take a medium size eggplant. Equally cut them into cube size. Wash them with water. Dry them well with a kitchen towel.
• In a medium bowl add cooked chickpeas, cubed eggplant, 1 tbs oil, 1 tsp salt and 1 Tsp chili powder. Mix everything well. Transfer everything to a pan. Bake them in an oven for at least 30 min.
• Meanwhile cook pasta as per the direction written on the package.
• Once everything prepared, take a pan and 2 tbs of olive oil. Heat it up on medium flame. Once oil is hot enough add finely chopped garlic, sauté them for a minute.
• Add your favorite pasta sauce heat it up for 10 min on lower medium flame.
• Now, it’s time to add roasted chickpeas- eggplants, cooked pasta, salt to taste and Italian herbs. Mix everything well and cook them for 1-2 min.
• Add chopped tomatoes, cover the lid and cook for 2-3 minutes on medium flame.
• Serve hot. It can also be prepared in advance and can be served cold.

Enjoy.

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