Easy Valentine’s Day Meal

Chickpea Pasta with Eggplant and Mushroom Ragu

If you’re planning on making your loved one dinner this Valentine’s Day, this recipe is a winner! It can easily be made on a weekday and it’s guilt-free so you can save lots of room for dessert!

I love the ingredients in this meal! They’re so colorful. I added ground chicken to the dish for James. However, it’s so flavorful and already meaty thanks to the eggplant and mushrooms.

To kick the flavor up a notch (it is Valentine’s Day after all) I also add a generous amount of basil leaves, a 1/2 cup of red wine, and the rind from fresh parmigiano reggiano.

You can use regular pasta in this recipe, too. However, I’m loving Banza pasta right now – especially for Lukas because it’s high in protein. The Banza pasta tastes just like regular pasta and has the same presentation, too.

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This sauce is so easy and super healthy! It’s also a great way to sneak veggies in for the kids. Lukas loved this dish – he was my official taste tester for this one 🙂 When I make this sauce, I always make a double batch so I can use it in other dishes throughout the week.

And the presentation is so pretty! I top it off with some fresh parsley and parmigiano.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 of a large eggplant – diced in cubes
• 1 store bought roasted red pepper – diced
• 1 diced onion
• 10 oz of diced portabella mushrooms
• 5 cloves of minced garlic
• 16 oz of lean chicken or turkey (optional)
• 1 15 oz can of tomato sauce
• 1 tbsp of tomato paste
• 1 cup of water
• 1/2 cup of red wine
• 2 tbsp of butter
• 1 tbsp of olive oil
• 1 tsp of dried thyme
• 2 tsp of dried oregano
• 1 large bunch of fresh basil
• 1/2 cup of fresh parsley
• 1 parmigiano reggiano rind
•  1 box of Banza linguine

Directions:

Saute the diced onion in olive oil over medium heat until the onions are translucent (about 3-5 minutes). Add the diced red peppers, eggplant, and mushrooms. Saute for another 5-7 minutes. While the vegetables are cooking, cook the ground chicken in a separate pan for about 7 minutes. Meantime, add the garlic to the vegetable mixture and cook for another 1-2 minutes or until the garlic is fragrant. Do not let the garlic burn. Once the garlic is mixed well with the vegetable mixture, add the wine and cook until the wine is completely absorbed. Add the cooked chicken to the vegetable mixture. Now add all of the dried herbs. Mix everything together for about 2 minutes. Now add the tomato sauce, paste and water. Bring everything to a simmer and then add the butter, parmesan rind, and fresh basil. Tip: tear the basil instead of chopping it with a knife as tearing preserves the flavor. Bring the burner to a low heat and let it simmer for at least a 30 minutes. Stir it occasionally. The longer you can simmer the sauce the better as the process makes it more flavorful. Right before serving, add the sauce on top of the cooked pasta and top it with freshly grated parmesan and fresh parsley. Enjoy!