This dish comes from Susan of FatFree Vegan Kitchen. Her recipe is called “Eggplant Paprikash.”  Paprikash is a Hungarian dish usually made with chicken, onions, green peppers, tomatoes, sour cream and lots of paprik but instead of using traditional ingredients she uses eggplant, red and yellow peppers and fire-roasted tomatoes. All put together with a delicious sour cream- like sauce made of silken tofu, this dish can proudly wear the name Paprikash.

Normally when testing a new recipe for the first time, I try to follow the directions as precisely as possible. For some reason with this recipe, maybe it is the Hungarian in me, I decided to improvise and take creative license on the first try. Though this move usually ends up in disaster for me… somehow I successfully managed a tasty dish.

Actually — I didn’t stray too far from the recipe. I followed FFV’s directions for the tofu sour cream to a “T” but I added a tablespoon of olive to the pan (instead of water) to saute the onion and red and yellow peppers.  Then, I added the eggplant after the onions and peppers had already started to brown. In this way, the onions and peppers are carmelized by the time the eggplant is nicely browned. (Yum, Yum!) Next I added 2 cups of grape tomatoes (instead of the fire roasted canned tomatoes) along with the garlic, salt and paprika. Once the tomatoes softened and started to admit their juices, I added water (instead of vegetable broth) and the liquid smoke and allowed the liquid to cook down until most of it had evaporated or was absorbed. Lastly adding the tofu sour cream and the dish was ready for eating!

One note about serving… the red pepper flakes are written as an “optional” item on FFV’s recipe. Again, maybe it is the Hungarian in me… but I think these are an essential element. A good way to serve them is on the side especially if you have a dinner group who likes a varied amount of spice. Whether you add few or many — you will notice the difference. The red pepper flakes marry the taste of the cream with the carmelized veggies and add a bit of zesty spice!

Nava Atlas calls this dish “Pasta with Roasted Vegetables and Olives” in her cookbook, Vegan Express. I think it should it have sundried tomatoes in the title as they too add considerable flavor to the overall dish.

I took this book out of the library a few months ago and have made this dish several times since. I jotted down ingredients and a few details on an index card before returning the book, but only weeks later I found myself googling the dish to find out more details of the making. Luckily, Susan of Fat Free Vegan has posted it on her blog. She calls the dish “Whole Wheat Pasta with Roasted Vegetables and Olives.” Still no sundried tomatoes mentioned, but she added the idea of using whole wheat pasta — great idea!

If you are  comparing photos between Fat Free Vegan & Vegan Sprout… you may  notice that the vegetables in my dish look more cooked with more oil. In fact, the vegetables on the Fat Free Vegan look almost raw with little or no oil. I did cook the dish longer than instructed in Nava’s recipe. I found the first time using this recipe that when I took the veggies out of the oven at 20 minutes, they were still dry and hard (especially the eggplant and I hate raw eggplant!). So, I roasted my veggies for about 40 minutes. I also added 1 1/2 to 2 cups of grape tomatoes sliced in half  and while I did not add the reserve oil from the sundried tomatoes, I added about a teaspoon of oil when I mixed in the grape tomatoes. Eating raw vegetables over their cooked version is certainly more healthy… but roasting them for a little longer brings out oh, so much flavor. The onions, red pepper and eggplant start to carmelize… and as the veggies are roasting you smell them getting more flavorful!

There are plenty of other variations that are possible with this dish. You could substitute or add other types of veggies. In my version, I used Italian eggplant instead of Chinese eggplant — not a big difference there but thinking, zucchini would make a tasty edition. I also reduced the amount of pasta and used a medium size eggplant which increased the proportions of veggies to pasta. Try playing with the spices. I doubled the amount of sliced garlic and added oregano and thyme for extra flavor.

However you decide to cook this dish… have fun doing it and enjoy!