Eggplant and pesto pasta salad

Recipe inspiration can come from many places. This idea for pasta salad, eggplant and pesto comes from a dish that was posted at the Cenaa caterer in Montreal. I was going there just to buy a sandwich, but this salad looked good. I had an eggplant from our last farm basket to use up. So I improvised a recipe based on it. Here it is.

Hot or cold?

This Italian-inspired salad is perfect for late summer. It is designed to be eaten cold.

One of the great things about this salad is that you don't really use vinaigrette. It's the olive oil and pesto that serve as the dressing/seasoning. So I think this pasta salad can be eaten warm. It will still be good. But if you want to eat it as a hot meal, I'd use mozzarella instead of feta. I find that it's a cheese that goes down better when warm.

It can stand on its own as a main course. But it can also serve as a good side dish. I wouldn't use it as a starter, however, as it's a bit too heavy to follow up with a main course.

Eggplant and pesto pasta salad variations

This recipe is a really good base, but as is often the case, let your imagination run wild and use what you've got in the fridge rather than throwing it away. Here are a few ideas for variations.

If your pesto isn't very "garlicky", or if you like a strong garlic taste, you can easily add garlic or garlic flower. It works well with pesto.

Peppers go well in them too. You can cook them like eggplant, or keep them raw for a little extra crunch.

In the original recipe, La Cena marinates the eggplants rather than cooking them. But not knowing exactly how and with what they make their marinade... I improvised a version without marinade. But if you have a good marinade recipe, feel free to try it with.

Cherry tomatoes can also be easily added to the recipe, simply cut in half or quarters depending on their size. Normal" tomatoes can also be used, although they tend to produce a lot of juice.

Get cooking!

Print

Fancy a salad? Try my other recipes for salad !