Yes, that is dinner — the entirety of it — in the trash can 🙁
This was going to be a possible Tasty Tuesday recipe but instead it was pretty much inedible. A couple weeks ago I had the Angel Hair Pasta featured on The Yardhouse menu — I LOVED it — enough to try and make it myself at home. Unfortunately that was a big BOMB and I am hoping that some of you may be able to help me out here!
All I have to go on is this:
Angel Hair Pasta
roma tomatoes, roasted eggplant, garlic, basil, pine nuts, feta, parmesan and olive oil
I didn’t have the pine nuts but that wouldn’t have fixed this disaster…
I started out with my basic ingredients….
I cut the eggplant into eighths and then cut all of those in half. Salted the eggplant and let it sweat for 20 minutes. Rinsed. Chopped up the Roma tomatoes and covered both the eggplant and tomatoes in an olive oil basil and garlic mix. Salted and roasted at 400 for about 30 minutes.
Cooked the pasta, drained put in a bit of the olive oil/basil/garlic mix in the pasta and dumped in the feta and roasted eggplant and tomatoes. Mixed in parmesan.
The result….
The problem? Somehow despite that entire little bottle of olive oil with basil, garlic, etc. This stuff had NO flavor. It was a disaster. Rarely do I just toss everything that I made, usually we’ll suffer through it if it even if it doesn’t turn out perfect. But this was HORRIBLE. 🙁
Any suggestions? I really would love to be able to make that Yardhouse Angel Hair Pasta! 🙂
PS — Be sure to check out this week’s ACTUAL Tasty Tuesday — it is delicious Homemade Mac and Cheese!
Did you cook the pasta with any seasoning? If you boiled the past without seasoning that’s probably your issue. I’m unfamiliar with this recipe, but what a disappointment to have to put the whole thing in the trash! Better luck next time!
Did you peel the eggplant I usually peel mine also I use garlic salt for flavor and use fresh herbs that helps alot. 🙂
oh I see you used garlic salt lol I usually just try some different herbs
do you think it is close to this recipe http://cheaphealthygood.blogspot.com/2007/07/of-eggplants-and-angels.html
Maybe try adding some white wine and lemon juice also maybe cook the pasta in chicken broth and add a little of the pasta cooking water to the mix when you pu everything together. The starchy water will help bind everything together:0) That does sound yummy!
It seems you might have needed tomato juice and green onions.
I used to work at an Italian restaurant, not familiar with this recipe, but here is my suggestion. Instead of cooking the eggplants mix in the oven, cook it in a skilled to bring out the flavors as well as it can cook down the tomatoes to give it some good flavor. I would look at adding a few more spices and even a few more ingredients. If you like peppers and onions it can cook with the mixture to add some flavor. If not at least add onion powder, salt, pepper, and maybe a bit of oregano.
I probably would have mixed the feta and the Parmesan together with some basil, oregano, thyme, savory and rosemary and garlic powder. ( we love garlic). Then I would have put a little oil with the noodles and added some more basil/oregano and parsley to the noodles. Then mixed the feta/Parmesan with the noodles. After that was mixed then I would have tossed in the veges (plus when you cooked them adding oregano with the basil is good) and maybe cut them down a little smaller in size so they were more bite size. I think some more Italian spices would have helped out possibly. I always add oregano into my Italian recipes along with basil and garlic powder. Hope this maybe helps.
I would of left out the eggplant.I like eggplant but recently I had eggplant pizza and it was awful.It tasted nothing like eggplant parmesan which I liked.I steer clear now.lol
Hmm. Coming from an Italian family, there are a couple of things I would do a little differently here. First of all, eggplant can be a tricky item to get a lot of flavor from. But looking at your pre-roasted chunks, I would say that unfortunately those pieces are too large and you need to prepare them a little differently to maximize flavor. Here’s what I would do:
Slice the eggplant very thin (aim for 1/4 of an inch, but you could do almost 1/2 inch if you have a decent amount of prep time – this will make more sense later). This can be done with a mandolin if you wish. I like to do it in rounds because I find that to be easier, but you can do it lenghtwise as well.
Layer your eggplant slices into a medium- or large-sized strainer, generously saltin each layer as you go. Cover the salted eggplant loosely with plastic wrap, and place several heavy items (such as a large can of tomatoes, a large bottle of olive oil, or several small cans or bottles) on top of the eggplant, in the strainer. This is going to help you get as much juice as possible from the eggplant, and I like to do that because the juices are lacking in flavor and they also make the eggplant very spongy in texture, which can be unpleasant.
Leave your eggplant in the strainer like that for as long as possible. If you want to do this overnight, that’s great and saves some prep time for you the day of. If not, I would go at least 1/2 hour if your slices are 1/4-inch and at least an hour if they are 1/2-inch. You will see juice in the bottom bowl if you lift the strainer out; if you don’t see any, then it probably hasn’t strained long enough. Once you are ready to roast your eggplant, dab off some of the salt and moisture with a paper towel.
I think you will find this technique will help your eggplant to roast more flavorfully (is that a word?!); it will almost carmelize a bit. Also, I would melt and *slightly* brown a little bit of butter and add to your oil for additional flavor, as well as fresh herbs, particularly parsley. A handful of chopped parsley can go a long way in any pasta dish.
I make something similar just about every week. My younger daughter has eating issues due to acid reflux. She loves it. First off, we don’t do any eggplant but that is because I can’t stand it. First I make the pasta, drain it and set it aside. Using the same pot, I lightly brown two cloves of minced garlic in olive oil once it is lightly browned (really dark yellow) I add in basil to taste (I add a lot), mix it up and turn off the heat. I then add in the tomatoes and sweat the tomatoes about 10 minutes until most but not all of the liquid is gone. I sometimes use grape tomatoes (I use a lot) or to simplify it I use a 32 ounce of diced tomatoes. Once most of the liquid is gone, I add back in the pasta and add some lightly browned pine nuts.
When it is done, then we add feta on top.
The recipe as you have written it sounded good, sorry you didin’t like the way it turned out. It made me freak out a little bit to see all that food in the trash! Even if it wasn’t the best, I probably would have eaten it anyway-I guess I am just too cheap (or too conditioned by good ol’ Mom) to waste so much food. This is also probably why I need to lose 20 pounds….
Love your blog!
Oh my! sorry to hear it was thrown away….maybe you could have added some italian dressing to it….just a thought….that’s what I would have done 🙂
I’ve been enamored with the Yardhouse Angel Hair Pasta for a while – sometimes with added grilled chicken. It’s so delicious naturally you’ll want to recreate it so you can eat it every day. Somehow their version is juicy and flavor filled. I attempted it as well and mine wasn’t even c lose. If you perfect this recipe please repost!
I believe you are missing the red pepper and white wine in your recipe, and olives.