Vegetarian Pasta with Asparagus, Mushrooms, and Fresh Tomato Puree

Three vegetables, some pasta, and a bit of seasoning. That’s all it takes to create a fresh, delicious, and wholesome dinner—on the light side. As I’ve mentioned a few hundred times, going fresh is always important, but especially when a recipe has very few ingredients and each one needs to bring its best flavor to the dish.

I chose asparagus for this recipe because it’s now spring and this is asparagus’s time to shine. Seasonal vegetables are ideal for bringing the freshest meals to your dinner table. Peas, baby spinach, spring onions, artichoke, fennel—all would make tasty additions to this springtime dish. Mushrooms are easy to find year-round and provide a little meatiness, as well as deep, earthy flavor. 

Vegetables and Garlic for the Sauce

Fresh tomatoes, of course, are available at your market year-round too, and while they will never measure up to that taste of sinking your teeth into one straight off the vine in summertime, store-bought tomatoes still make a great fresh sauce for pasta or any other tomato-based dish you’re preparing.

I chose to use a few different types of tomatoes for this recipe simply because that's what I had on hand. You can use only one kind or choose a mix of your favorites.

Assorted Tomatoes for the Sauce

One more thing: I wanted a chunky puree for the pasta, so I gave the coarsely chopped tomatoes a few spins in the food processor—not long enough to emulsify them, just enough to make them “saucy” with some bite still in the tomatoes. For a very chunky sauce, skip the processor and chop the tomatoes yourself.

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 8 oz spaghetti
• 1 1/2 lbs assorted tomatoes (such as roma, cluster, cherry, compari, or heirloom), coarsely chopped
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 8 oz crimini mushrooms, thickly sliced
• 6 oz asparagus, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh herb mixture, such as basil and oregano

Preparation

1. Cook the pasta in boiling, salted water 8-9 minutes. Drain.
2. Place the tomatoes in a food processor and chop until a chunky puree forms. Transfer to a bowl.

Tomatoes Ready to Puree

Chunky Pureed Tomatoes

1. Heat a large, deep skillet over medium heat and add the oil. Add the mushrooms, asparagus, and garlic and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, until the vegetables have softened and most of the liquid is absorbed, about 5 minutes.

Asparagus, Mushrooms, and Garlic Beginning to Cook

Cooked Asparagus, Mushrooms, and Garlic

1. Add the pureed tomatoes and re-season with salt and pepper. Simmer slowly until the sauce is slightly thickened, 7-8 minutes.

Pureed Tomato Sauce Beginning to Cook

Cooked Sauce

1. Add the pasta and fresh herbs to the skillet and toss well to combine with the sauce. Divide among 4 bowls and serve right away.

Pasta with Eggplant, Mushrooms, and Roasted-Garlic Tomato Sauce

This easy vegetarian pasta dish is rich and meaty with chunks of pan-simmered eggplant and crimini (baby portobello) mushrooms. And if you love garlic—or if you consider it the stuff of life as I do—you’ll savor the robust garlicky flavor of the tomato sauce simmered with six creamy, caramelized garlic cloves.

Here’s the nub: Slow-roasting unpeeled garlic—whole bulbs or loose cloves—draws out the depth of its flavor and makes it creamy enough to squeeze out of the peel like toothpaste. Even canned tomatoes take on a rich, earthy flavor after a slow simmer with the roasted garlic.

One other note: Simmering eggplant breaks down the chunks and adds to the thickness of the sauce. You won’t see big pieces of it in your bowl, but that great eggplant flavor permeates the dish and you’ll know it’s there.

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 6 large unpeeled garlic cloves
• olive oil for drizzling, plus 3 tbsp, divided
• 1 large shallot, thinly sliced
• 1 28-oz can of stewed tomatoes
• 2 tbsp chopped Italian parsley
• sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 8 oz crimini mushrooms, quartered
• 1 small eggplant, about 12 oz, peeled and cubed
• 8 oz rotini

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven (or toaster oven) to 300° F. Place the garlic cloves on a small piece of aluminum foil and drizzle with olive oil. Wrap the foil around the garlic and roast until very tender, about 45 minutes.

Garlic Ready to Roast

Roasted Garlic

1. Remove and let rest until cool enough to handle. Squeeze the garlic pulp into a small bowl and discard the peels.

Roasted Garlic Squeezed from Peels 

1. Heat a saucepan over medium-low heat and add 1 tablespoon of oil. Add the shallot and sauté 3 minutes, until just tender.
2. Add the tomatoes, roasted garlic, and parsley and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer, reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook slowly 1 hour.

Cooked Roasted-Garlic Tomato Sauce

1. Cook the pasta in boiling, salted water 9 minutes and drain.
2. Meanwhile, heat a large, deep skillet over medium heat and add the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil. Add the mushrooms and eggplant and season with salt and pepper.
3. Cook until the vegetables are very tender and the eggplant has broken down, about 10 minutes.

Eggplant and Mushrooms Beginning to Cook

Cooked Eggplant and Mushrooms

Cooked Eggplant and Mushrooms, Liquid Absorbed

1. Add the garlicky tomato sauce to the skillet and simmer 5 minutes. Add the drained pasta to the skillet and toss well to combine.

Cooked Vegetable and Tomato Sauce

1. Divide the pasta among 4 shallow bowls and serve right away.