Friday Recipe - Longhorn Pasta

This week I put together a couple pasta dishes - one vegan, one not. I have been dying to try some specialty items from the market, so I decided to make a meal that incorporated both as well as found a way to sneak some eggplant into my diet. Thus, longhorn pasta was born!

Sorry! I am working on getting a better camera.

This recipe yields 4 servings.

Ingredients:

• A pound of meat* 
• Approximately 2 cups of dry pasta of your choice*
• 1 large eggplant
• 4 to 6 large cremini mushrooms (depending on your love of the shroom)
• 1 cup chopped white onion
• 1 or 2 jalapenos, depending on size
• 1 clove garlic (more if you LOVE garlic)
• A couple handfuls of purslane
• A jar of your favorite tomato sauce (I couldn't find this at the market, unfortunately)
• Spices/herbs of your choice - I used chili powder, paprika, oregano, parsley, black pepper
• 1 Tbsp Coconut Oil

*SHOUT OUTS:

I used Texas Longhorn Land and Cattle Co. - Port Lavaca, TX - for the meat. This is a grass-fed ground beef used from the whole cow - they don't slice off all the prime cuts for steaks and grind the leftovers. You can contact sixmile@icsi.net for more information about their product.


For the pasta, I used Tavola's Roasted Red Pepper infused organic durum semolina rigatoni - this is truly a made-with-love product. Check them out on Facebook at Tavola pasta - Houston, TX.

I also like to put extra onion and pepper into the meat.

To get started, thaw the ground beef and wash and dice all the vegetables (from eggplant to purslane on list above). Once the beef is thawed, massage your spices into it. Set that aside and place your dry pasta into a pot and add plenty of water. Bring to a boil.







While that works into a boil, place a tablespoon of coconut oil into a large skillet and put over medium-high heat on the stove. Toss in your garlic and onion and let saute for a couple minutes. Then add the eggplant, mushrooms and jalapeno and saute these a few more minutes. All the vegetables should be quite cooked in 10 minutes.

Your noodles might also be boiling at this time and you can set a timer to 8 - 10 minutes and let the pasta boil uncovered. Add the meat to the sauteed skillet veggies and brown to perfection.
When everything is complete, portion the pasta into 4 servings, top with sauce and meat/veggie combo and enjoy. Sprinkle in some cheese for an extra treat.










For a vegan version, skip the meat! Easy as that. Because I love spinach, I sauteed some quickly in a skillet and topped on my noodles also.

Yum! Does anyone have some great ideas on different versions of this dish? Or maybe even some local pastas or specialty meats you want to share?



Linked with: Fight Back Friday