Hands down my new favorite way of making pesto is to add miso! It’s a mouth-watering miso-basil pesto and it adds a lot of flair to this dish. It brings bright and intense flavors.
This dish features mighty eggplant, which is cubed and quickly sautéed until tender and caramelized. Salty miso paste is added to kick up the flavor and basil keeps things fresh. Grated parmesan, good olive oil and black pepper should be enough to bring out the best in this recipe.
Pesto and pasta, however, shine as companions above all other summaries. Don’t you agree? But then, add miso and you’ll probably have the most umami-rich pasta dish you could have imagined.
A dish, full of bright, bold notes, from the squeeze of a lemon, toasty pine nuts and subtle toothsome bites of tender eggplant. It’s simple, easy and absolutely luscious! This dish makes a perfect bowl of comfort and a whole lot of flavor. Delicious!
Let me guide you through the recipe with this step-by-step VIDEO.
3 more surprising recipes with miso:
- Asian mushroom noodle soup
- Roasted pumpkin soup with wild rice and miso mushrooms
- Mussels in Garlic Miso Broth
Recipe Video
Eggplant Miso Pesto Pasta
Ingredients
- 9 ounces pasta
- 1 eggplant - cubed
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 3 garlic cloves - minced
- salt - to taste
- black pepper - to taste
- ½ tsp chili flakes
miso pesto
- 2 cups basil leaves
- ¼ cup toasted pine nuts
- 2 tbsp miso
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ½ cup grated parmesan
- ½ tsp black pepper
for serving
- 4 tbsp toasted pine nuts
- basil leaves
- grated parmesan
- crushed pepper flakes
Instructions
- Boil the pasta in salted water until al dente. Drain, reserving 1/4 cup of the cooking water.
- Make the pesto. In a food processor, combine the basil leaves, pine nuts, miso, lemon juice and parmesan. Blend until a chunky paste. While the food processor is running, slowly pour in the olive oil through the feed tube, adding more if needed to reach your desired consistency. Season with pepper to taste. Set aside.
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet set over medium heat. Add eggplant cubes and sauté for about 5-8 minutes or until tender and slightly browned.
- Add garlic, cook until fragrant, for about 3 minutes more. Season with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes.
- Stir in the miso pesto, add pasta and a splash of the reserved cooking water. Stir well so everything is well-coated.
- Serve immediately, topped with grated Parmesan cheese, basil, pine nuts and chili flakes. Enjoy!
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