Pasta with Creamy Eggplant-Walnut Pasta Sauce

Step 1

Preheat a grill to high. Place the whole eggplants directly on the grates and close the lid. Occasionally check in on the eggplant and give them a flip until all sides are charred and the eggplants are very soft/collapsing when pressed. This should take about 20-25 minutes. Instructions for doing this step in the oven are in the recipe notes! Once cooked, set the eggplant aside to cool in a bowl.

Step 2

Make the spiced bread crumbs. Set a large sauté pan over medium heat. Once the pan is hot, pour in 1½ tablespoons of olive oil and swirl it around. Add the breadcrumbs to the pan. They should sizzle a bit. Give them a stir and then add the cumin, chili flakes, salt, and pepper. Once the bread crumbs are starting to darken around the edges, lower the heat to medium-low. Keep stirring the bread crumbs until they have dried out a bit and are evenly toasted, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the dill. Transfer the spiced bread crumbs to a plate and wipe out the pan.

Step 3

Make the creamy eggplant sauce. Cut the cooled eggplants in half and scoop out all of the flesh. You should wind up with around 2 cups total of cooked eggplant. Pour out any excess water/liquid from the cooked eggplant flesh (a little bit is okay!) and then transfer the cooked flesh to an upright blender. To the blender, add the walnuts, lemon juice, miso, about ½ teaspoon of the minced garlic, and some salt and pepper. Blend this mixture on high until completely smooth and creamy. It should be fluid but still thick. Set aside.

Step 4

Start cooking your pasta in boiling salted water. Follow the package directions for cooking time. Before draining, reserve 1 cup of the pasta cooking water.

Step 5

Place the large sauté pan back on the stove over medium heat. Pour in the remaining olive oil and swirl it around. Add the shallots and remaining garlic to the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until the shallots are soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Lower the heat to medium low.

Step 6

Add the creamy eggplant and walnut sauce to the pan along with the drained pasta and a big pinch of salt and pepper. Give everything a stir to combine. If the sauce needs loosening up, add in some of the reserved pasta cooking water and stir to combine. Serve the pasta hot with the spiced bread crumbs on top along with extra dill and chili if you like.