After trolling Tagine recipes on Pinterest for a week while waiting for my new Tagine to arrive, I’m proud to unveil this Eggplant Puttanesca Gnocchi which has nothing to do with a Tagine at all. Because that’s how I roll. 😉
My salty/briny tooth was screaming at me this morning, which just happens to fit with #meatlessmonday perfectly in this dish. Normally a Puttanesca is served with pasta, but I found the cutest little Mini Gnocchi at Target last week and I knew this would be perfect together.
This is seriously easy to bring together, even on a work day. Chop, sautée, simmer, serve. Voilà!
- 2 eggplants
- 1 onion
- Chopped garlic (to your taste, I did about 5 cloves)
- 1red bell pepper
- 1 jar red sauce of your choosing
- 1 jar olives (this one is Harissa marinated!) Kalamata or Green, you’re going for brine!
- 1 jar Capers
- A couple splashes of dry vermouth
Now I did this in my pressure cooker because I like the way it concentrates flavor, but you can do this on the stove top in a regular pan as well.
Sautée the eggplant, bell pepper,onion and garlic until softened. Sprinkle (liberally!) the vermouth. Drain the olives and capers before adding them in, add the tomato sauce, stir and set to simmer until eggplant is nice and soft. In another pot, prepare the gnocchi per directions. Once nice and fluffy, mix into the Puttanesca.
Let that all simmer together for about 15 minutes. Dish it up in a bowl, top with some Feta (tang on top of the brine) and you’re ready for a party in your mouth!
This ticks off all my favorite boxes, the eggplant gets nice and creamy, helping balance out the brine of the capers and olives, the slight spice of the olive marinade comes out with the tangy and bright feta, while the little gnocchi help you feel more full. This is really just all kinds of yum.
If I wasn’t gun-shy after the wedding this weekend, I would wash it all down with a gin and lemon cocktail…and some fresh basil…yeah… something like that would work. 🍸
Cheers my lovelies, go forth and slay this week on a full stomach! 😘
