Recipe. You Won't Want to Miss This!

Eggplant Pasta

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1/3 medium sweet onion chopped

2-3 cloves of garlic minced

2 Chinese eggplants or alternately baby eggplants, cut into one half-inch chunks and totaling 4 cups. See note below.

1/2 can (28 oz can) of crushed tomatoes, plus 1/3 cup water

1 tbsp tomato paste

1/2 tsp dried basil

1/8 tsp red pepper flakes

1/4 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp dried parsley

salt + pepper to taste

3/4 lb of pasta that holds a sauce well. I usually use rigatoni or mezze rigatoni. Fusilli is also good!

4-5 leaves of fresh basil chopped coarsely (no problem if not available!)

1/2 cup or more freshly grated parmesan

Heat 2 tbsp EVOO in saute pan large enough to simmer sauce with eggplant, and add pasta. Add onion and saute for approximately 3 minutes. Add garlic and continue cooking together another 2 minutes.

Add dry herbs, cook for 2 minutes. Add eggplant to pan and drizzle 1/4 cup olive oil over eggplant. Season with salt and pepper. Cook eggplant for approximately 8-10 minutes (medium/low heat), stirring occasionally, allowing it to soften.

Add tomato paste and move around with a wooden spoon, cooking it for about 3 minutes while it carmelizes a bit. Add crushed tomatoes and water. Adjust water as needed. Lower the heat to low, cover and simmer for approximately 15-20 minutes. Stir occasionally. Towards the end the eggplant will become soft enough for you to mash some of it to combine with and thicken sauce.

While the eggplant and sauce is cooking, heat salted pasta water and boil your pasta to al dente. Reserve pasta water to use to adjust thickness of sauce at the end.

Add al dente pasta to the sauce and while it is simmering, toss to coat. Use reserved pasta water to thin if the sauce is too thick.

Divide pasta into bowls. Top with fresh chopped basil and parmesan cheese.

Serve with a crusty bread.

Makes 3-4 servings.

Note: I use the Chinese or baby eggplant because it is sweet and the seeds are fewer and small. You can also use traditional Italian eggplant, but I would cut into 1/2 inch slices, salt, rinse, and pat dry before chopping it into chunks to eliminate any bitterness.