Orrichette with asian eggpant and baby bok-choy
I stumbled into a Chinese-themed street fair in downtown Portland the other day, and found myself some nice produce. And just like Marco Polo, I thought “this would go great in pasta”.
You will need
- 1 asian eggplant, diced and salted. (you may wish to peel the skin, if you don’t like the texture)
- 2-3 heads of baby bok-choy, sliced lengthwise
- 1 lb of Orrichette pasta
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
- 1/4 panko bread crumbs (or any old bread crumbs will do. But hey. it’s asian-themed)
- Zest from one medium lemon
- Juice from same lemon
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1/2 cup chicken stock
- Olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper to taste.
Start by slicing your bok-choy in half lengthwise so that you can lay each half flat on your cutting board. Dice the eggplant into 1/2 inch cubes.
Set a large pot of heavily salted water to boil, and heat a tablespoon or two of olive oil in a large sauté pan.Heat a second sauté pan over medium heat, and add a tablespoon of butter.
When the butter has stopped foaming, lay the bok-choy, cut-side down, and let it brown on one side.
Once brown, add 1/2 cup of chicken stock to the pan. Let the bok-choy cook until slightly wilted and tender, then remove from the heat. (the pasta will reheat it just fine)
Cook the eggplant in the oil until it is thoroughly cooked. Undercooked eggplant tastes weird. Cook it until it gets really soft. Salting your eggplant in advance will draw out excess moisture and keep it from acting like a giant sponge.
When your water reaches a boil, add 1 lb. of orrichette pasta to the water, and stir to separate.
Once the eggplant is thoroughly cooked (it should be falling apart) add the zest of lemon and garlic, stir, and turn off the heat.
Once your pasta is cooked al-dente, drain, and toss the pasta with the eggplant mixture.
Stir in your parmesan cheese, then stir in your bread crumbs, and finally top with lemon juice.
The eggplant should break down and basically coat the pasta like a thick sauce.
Serve the pasta in a plate, with one or two pieces of bok-choy draped over the top. Add salt and pepper, and maybe a splash of olive oil to taste.
Feel free to toss in some grilled chicken, cut into cubes, at the end.
(then you could call the dish Marco Pollo)