Aubergine, courgette, walnut & chicken pesto spaghetti

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Aubergine, courgette & walnut pesto spaghetti from scrummylane.com

Last Friday, I did what I often do when it comes to an evening meal for Mr. Scrummy and I. I schemed and planned in my little down-time moments (aka day-dreaming at my desk) throughout the day what I was going to cook.

But by the time I got home, I was so exhausted in that Friday night way that we all know only too well that, well, let’s just say I wasn’t bounding into the kitchen full of the joys of spring to roast my chicken that I’d just bought in quite the same energetic fashion that I’d imagined earlier in the day! ‘Forget roasting a chicken, let’s just get a takeaway,’ said thoughtful Mr. Scrummy. ‘Oh no, that’s OK, it won’t take long to do,’ she replied, still totally convinced that the words coming out of her mouth were true. But as pots and pans and carrots and potatoes and half lemons to shove up a chicken’s bottom flew, and half an hour ticked over to an hour … and the rest … OK, yes I did regret my earlier enthusiasm. A lot.

Because, as we all know, Friday is the night for flaking out on the sofa with a pizza and a movie. Not roasting your own chicken and all the trimmings. Silly me!

But … and now here’s the point … IT WAS WORTH IT THE NEXT DAY. Because what did I have then? Lots of lovely juicy leftover roast chicken of course. Which really did turn out to be super handy because Mr. Scrummy and I were painting our apartment that day ready for renting as we prepare to leave Greece and settle in the UK. It was pretty useful to have something to throw into a quick dinner at the end of all the hard work.

Soooo … I made this aubergine, courgette, walnut & chicken pesto spaghetti. I know, that’s a bit of a mouthful to say and doesn’t sound easy at all (sorry, I couldn’t decide what to leave out of the title so I shoved it all in!) Plus, aubergine and courgette? What’s she talking about? (That’s eggplant and zucchini to you … or most of you, I suspect.)

Aubergine, courgette & walnut pesto spaghetti from scrummylane.com

Trust me, though, like any pesto this really was easy. And truly delicious, too, if I may say so. The sauce reminded me a little of a usually-smoky and sometimes-creamy dip we have over here in Greece called ‘melitzanosalata’ (say ‘mel-itz-an-o-sal-AT-a’), or aubergine salad. Basically, very similar to the Middle Eastern Baba Ganoush, if you’re familiar with that at all.

All I did to make this simple beauty was roast a small diced aubergine together with a diced courgette for about half an hour. Why the courgette? Well, to be honest I just had one in my fridge, so decided to add it in. You know, extra veggies and all that. I do like courgettes but they don’t have the most memorable flavour when mixed in with other things, so I suspect you could leave it out of this recipe if you didn’t have one and that would be just fine!

Making Aubergine, courgette & walnut pesto spaghettiMaking aubergine, courgette & walnut pesto spaghetti

I then whizzed the roasted, diced veggies in the food processor with a handful each of walnuts, parmesan cheese and fresh herbs (looking back at my photos, I see that I used mint and oregano, but you could use whatever you have), a small garlic clove (or half a clove if you prefer to be on the conservative side with raw garlic in pesto) and a squeeze of lemon. Af-TA, as the Greeks say … that’s it!

Making aubergine, courgette & walnut pesto spaghettiMaking aubergine, courgette & walnut pesto spaghetti

Then, stir the pesto sauce through your hot cooked pasta, adding a little reserved cooking water to make the sauce a little silkier, throw in your leftover chicken and heat through in the pan a little. Serve up your dish, then scatter over more parmesan and some chopped parsley and you’ve got one very delicious and fast Saturday-afternoon-while-painting-the-apartment meal. Or any-day-while-doing-(almost)-anything meal, of course!

And if you’d like to see where I live here in Athens, Greece, just look carefully at this next picture because just about the whole neighbourhood is reflected around the edge of the dish! Ha! Yes, I did forget that this particular dish, a pretty shade of blue though it is, doesn’t behave itself very well in that sense. If you look closely on the left side, you’ll also see that it was a lovely sunny day with only a cute little wispy cloud in the sky!

Aubergine, courgette & walnut pesto spaghetti from scrummylane.com

There are two things left to say here. Three, actually. 1. This pesto could very happily double up as a dip to eat with tortilla chips or raw veggies or whatever you usually like to dip into dips. 2. This recipe actually makes quite a lot of sauce. I stirred it all through the spaghetti, but you might want to save a little and use the rest for said dip. 3.  You really don’t need to add chicken to this dish. It would still be super tasty without it! In other words, you don’t need to become Friday-night-crazy-lady-or-gentleman like I did in order to create this deliciousness!

Aubergine, courgette, walnut & chicken pesto spaghetti

So, am I the only one to begin something a bit over-ambitious for the moment (not necessarily just cooking) and regret it? I know, probably just me on a Friday night. And … what dishes do you like to make to use up your leftover roast chicken in? Yes, I’m definitely looking to milk my readers (looking right at you!!) for all their great ideas!

Oh, and by the way, I decided I couldn’t put off joining Twitter any longer and … oh my goodness, that thing is mighty addictive! Why didn’t anyone warn me?!

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Aubergine, courgette & walnut pesto spaghetti from scrummylane
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Aubergine, courgette, walnut & chicken pesto spaghetti

A different way to serve spaghetti – enrobed in a creamy, smoky aubergine-and-walnut-based pesto sauce. This dish has echoes of Middle Eastern Baba Ghanoush and definitely has the delicious factor!
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 40 minutes
Total: 50 minutes
Servings: 2 -3

Ingredients 
 

  • 1 small aubergine, eggplant, cut into smallish cubes
  • 1 medium-sized courgette, zucchini, also cut into smallish cubes
  • 1/3 cup olive oil, plus a little more for roasting
  • 2.6 ounces walnuts
  • 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
  • about a handful of fresh herbs, chopped (I used oregano & mint)
  • 1/2-1 small garlic clove
  • a couple of squeezes of lemon juice
  • black pepper, to taste
  • spaghetti, fresh or dried (I used about 3.5 ounces/100 grams per person dried)
  • leftover roast chicken, I used about 2.6 ounces/75 grams per person, but use as much or as little as you like - or have left!
  • a little fresh chopped parsley and extra parmesan cheese, to serve

Instructions 

  • Pre-heat the oven to 390F/200C.
  • Put the aubergine and courgette together on a baking tray, drizzle with a little olive oil and roast for 30 minutes or until the aubergine is nice and soft.
  • Put a pan of water on to boil for the spaghetti, then cook according to the packet instructions.
  • While the spaghetti is cooking, put the roasted aubergines and courgettes, walnuts, parmesan, herbs, garlic, lemon juice & pepper in a food processor and blitz until it forms a paste. Then, with the motor running, add the olive oil a little at a time until the paste has the consistency of a thick pesto sauce.
  • Drain the pasta, reserving a little of the cooking water, then return it to the pan
  • Stir the chicken and pesto sauce through the spaghetti (you may not wish to add all of the sauce, although I did!). Add a little of the reserved cooking water to make the sauce a little silkier. Heat through a little to make sure the chicken is well heated.
  • Serve immediately sprinkled with the chopped parsley and extra parmesan.

Notes

You could happily leave the chicken out of this recipe (even though the chicken was the star of the show in my post!)
Please do experiment with using this pesto as a dip ... and then write and tell me what you thought!

Nutrition

Calories: 666kcal, Carbohydrates: 19g, Protein: 12g, Fat: 63g, Saturated Fat: 9g, Cholesterol: 8mg, Sodium: 206mg, Potassium: 686mg, Fiber: 9g, Sugar: 9g, Vitamin A: 150IU, Vitamin C: 5.5mg, Calcium: 205mg, Iron: 1.9mg
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About Helen Schofield

Don't expect to find anything fussy or complicated here. Just QUICK, EASY & (mostly!) HEALTHY recipes from the Mediterranean and beyond. ENJOY!

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68 Comments

  1. There are definitely many days I want to order takeout instead of cooking…but I really almost never regret a home-cooked meal! I love that you put that leftover chicken to good use!

    1. You’re right … I never regret the effort after the effort’s over and I’m enjoying the (hopefully) nice meal! I think I just need to be realistic about it on a Friday night. Off to eat a big plate of meatballs and zucchini fries tonight at our favourite taverna. That’s more like it!

  2. I love how you’ve combined a Greek eggplant dip with an Italian pesto! And way to use what you’ve got 😉 This looks like such a delicious meal; pinning!

    1. Aw, thanks, Allie! Great way to put it – I hadn’t really thought of it quite like that. Thanks for the pin as well!

  3. Sooo, you’ve joined twitter, have you tried Instagram? Twitter is actually one social media I’ve never warmed up, Instagram on the other hand, is fantastic, it’s visual and so inspiring!
    p.s. Fridays evenings are actually the times I love to go overboard with cooking, but that’s just weird me 🙂

    1. Gintare, I would really love to try Instagram – I suspect I’ll get REALLY addicted to that – but my phone isn’t up to it at the moment, so I have to wait a little longer for that one! Plus I’m not sure if I could cope with having to ‘attend to’ something else each day at the moment! I need to wean myself into these things gently!!
      I’m impressed with your Friday night cooking spirit! As for me, the heart is willing but the spirit is weak!!

  4. Wow, your Friday night dinner is awesome. We usually do sometime simple or just some appetizers. We are usually so tired from the week we’d rather just sit, relax, and have a nice cold beverage. 😀
    This dish looks absolutely delicious! I love the pesto. I’m going to try this!
    Oh and by the way, between Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter and blogs I spend way too much time on the computer. I’m completely addicted! I may need therapy. haha

    1. I think this hive of Friday night cooking activity happened strictly just this one time, Cindy. Next week it’s definitely back to slobbing on the sofa with a pizza! I know what you mean about the social media thing. It’s hard to know where to stop!

  5. Hi! Love this recipe but my husband is allergic to walnuts, any substitutions? I really like “nutty” aspect to dishes so I’d rather not have to omit altogether. Thanks!!

    1. Hello, Laura! So glad you like the recipe. I think that you could easily use almonds or macadamia nuts in this instead of walnuts – just use the same amount. Or even pecans (which I’d say are a little like walnuts in texture). If you do end up trying it, I’d love to know how it turned out!

    1. Aw, thank you, Chichi! If you remember, do let me know how it turns out if you do try making this.

  6. LOL…I took photos of some tomato soup that all had a purple reflection. Nothing that even major photo editing could eliminate! I never would have noticed the reflection had you not mentioned it…I think I was too focused on the incredible pasta!!

    1. I think there’s a word for drawing others’ attention to your faults, Liz, but I can’t think of it right now (well, it is 6am!) Let’s hope the lovely folks at Foodgawker don’t spot the reflection, either … lol! 🙂

  7. My dear Helen wow wow wow!! I’am fond of all the ingredients in your dish. It looks so yummy and it is a complete meal.
    The last Time I decided to cook something on friday night instead of ordering a pizza i cooked schewy gnocchis cause I used cornstarch instead of flour. And Mr J, my boyfriend who was hungry was also finally angry!!! I finished the night cooking rice for him!
    Your recipe is a good idea and I like your pesto.
    Take good care of you
    Chantal

    1. Coucou, Chantal! The moral of the story is … we shouldn’t cook on Friday nights! Your story reminds me of the first time I cooked for Mr. Scrummy …. I tried making sweet potato gnocchi for him but didn’t use a recipe. The gnocchi ended up tasting mostly of flour! 🙂

  8. Hi Helen, what a great idea roasting the veggies and then making a pesto out of them. Brilliant actually. I have a red bowl like your blue one. It’s really pretty but a little shiny.

    1. Haha … I think you should show us some of your pictures with the red bowl in, Cheri! So glad you liked the pesto! I guess you could make all sorts of other pestos using roasted veggies, now that you mention it (cogs whirring …) 😉