Pasta Vegeta

When I was young, I was a big fan of Dragon Ball Z. My uncle who used to live and work in Japan used to record the episodes and then send it home so kids in the family can watch it. So even before our local network started to broadcast it, we were already familiar and have watched all the episodes. The only downside was the recordings were in in Japanese, so we kind of learned the story by mere movements of the characters. Funny, but as kids, we were very very satisfied.

Vegeta was one of my favorite characters. I used to associate his name with the word vegetable and thinking it might be connected, until I learned the correct pronunciation of the word "vegetable" . So I'm dedicating this recipe to Vegeta - the villain turned hero who reminds me of vegetables (ve-ge-ta-bols).



Ingredients:
Pasta used : Fetuccini, cooked al dente!

Sauce
- 1 pack tomato sauce
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 long egg plant, chopped in tiny bits
- salt and pepper
- dried oregano
- garlic powder
- dried basil
- 5 pieces swiss brown mushroom, stems removed and sliced
- olive oil

Toppings
- small yellow bell pepper, chopped in to tiny bits
- 1/2 cup zucchini, chopped in to tiny bits
- 1/2 cup white onion, chopped in to tiny bits

1. Boil water in a pot.
2. Prepare a bowl of iced water.
3. Blanch the toppings (yellow bell pepper, zucchini, white onion) in the boiling water for about 30 seconds. Drain and transfer them to the iced water bowl to shock it. Set aside.
3. Heat olive oil in a pan and saute the chopped eggplants. When it is quite golden brown, remove and set aside.
4. Use the same pan and add olive oil again. When it's hot enough, saute the mushrooms until cooked. Sprinkle a little bit of salt and pepper to taste.
5. Heat sauce pan. Add the tomato sauce, 1/2 cup water and bring it to a boil. If you wish to have a thick consistency, add flour to thicken the sauce. I usually dissolve a tablespoon of flour in 1/4 cup water and pour it in. This way I don't have to exert more effort in dissolving the chunks in the sauce.
6. Sprinkle the spices. Add salt and pepper to taste. You may also add sugar if you want a bit of sweetness in the sauce.

To serve:

Get a big plate and pour generous amount of sauce right at the middle. Sprinkle enough egg plant bits. Place the pasta on top of the sauce. Sprinkle the shocked toppings around the pasta and on the sauce. Top the pasta with the swiss brown mushroom. And there, your ultimate vegetarian pasta ;)


smakelijk eten!