Eggplant Pasta

This can be so many things. I first tried it as soup. Then I used it as a pizza sauce. Next it was a casserole and lastly it was just tossed with some pasta for lunch. All were loved. Don't let the really basic looking appearance of the pasta in the picture fool you. It's amazing stuff.

And since it's amazing, I'm sending it to the amazing Presto Pasta Nights being hosted over at Briciole

1 egg plant, quartered lengthwise
2 roma tomatoes, quartered
2 cloves garlic
1 small onion, quartered
olive oil
Salt

Brush vegetables with oil and lightly sprinkle with salt.
Roast at 400 for 40 minutes.

In a pot combine and simmer 10 minutes
2 c. chicken broth
1/2 tsp. marjoram
1 tsp. lemon juice

Scrape eggplant from purple skin. Add eggplant, onion, tomatoes, and garlic to broth.
Simmer 30 minutes until vegetables really are tender. Puree until smooth and add
1/4 c. cream
let sit for 15 minutes.

Roasting the vegetables, I used more than the onion shown, I had just already started throwing it in the pot before I remembered to take a picture. They will be a dark brown on the bottom, you want that.

Thats what it looked like in the pot simmering, not so very tasty looking, admittedly

Ok, so thats the basics of it. Here are the Variations:

Soup:
Use 6 cups of chicken broth and a half a cup of cream

Pizza Sauce:
Use as is instead of your regular tomato sauce on pizza, top with cheese, bake and enjoy

Casserole:
Toss cooked pasta, the sauce, chunks of cooked chicken and/or Italian sausage, and some small cubes of mozzarella cheese. Cover and bake at 350 until the cheese starts to melt

Pasta Dish:
Much like the casserole, just toss the sauce with cooked pasta and enjoy. You can add sliced chicken and top with Parmesan cheese is you want.

Confit Byaldi aka Ratatouille

For something so simply seasoned, this has an excellent flavor. I just happened to have the sundried tomatoes in my fridge, but if you don't have them don't worry about it. Just add a tablespoon of olive oil or butter to the tomato sauce before baking.

I started my recipe by looking at Smitten Kitchens version, she uses the red pepper instead of tomatoes, then I made a few changes of my own. For another tasty looking twist check out her Ratatouille Tart.

1 (15 oz.) can tomato sauce

1 can diced tomatoes, drained really well

1/2 onion

2 cloves garlic

3 sundried tomatoes packed in oil and herbs,

plus about 1 Tbsp of the oil they are packed in

1/4 tsp dried thyme

I added the diced tomatoes, garlic, onion, sundried tomatoes, and the oil from the tomatoes to a food processor and processed until smooth. Stir that into the tomato sauce and add the thyme.

Pour into the bottom of two 9x9 inch casserole dishes

2 large zucchini

2 large yellow squash

1 large bell pepper

2 thin eggplants

Slice all the vegetables thin and layer over the tomato layer alternating vegetables. I only placed a bell pepper slice every few layers. My eggplant was a lot bigger around than my zucchini and squash so I cut the slices in half and put the cut side down, so the rounded purple outside shows.

1/4 c. olive oil

2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

I used a spray bottle and misted the top of the vegetables.

Sprinkle with

salt

a dash of freshly cracked black pepper

and a little bit of dried thyme

Cover with parchment paper and bake at 375 for 45 minutes or until the vegetables look tender and the sauce is bubbling up around the vegetables. Uncover and bake an additional 20 minutes

Eggplant Parmesan

I went to Savannah for the day to run a few errands. One of which took me into the Fresh Market, A kinda upscale specialty grocery store. On a side note, they have a fairly decent bakery section too, thought their cakes are as bad as every other grocery store with the lard frosting to match. They do make a nice strawberry rhubarb pie, John and I's favorite. Anyway, I saw a box of eggplant cutlets in the freezer section that just seemed to be begging me to take them home and make them my dinner. So I did. I was not disappointed in the slightest.

They. Where. GOOD!

I made myself a very tasty plate of Eggplant Parmesan. The sauce went perfectly with them, great tomato taste and not too many herb to overpower the taste of the eggplant (a whole lot of garlic though!)

I found I needed to bake them longer than the box called for but other than that just make according to package directions and serve over pasta with tomato sauce and a dusting of freshly grated Pecorino Romano.

My box contained 7 large pieces

My Sauce recipe:
1 can diced tomatoes
Freshly Cracked Black Pepper
1 1/2 tsp. granulated garlic
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 beef bouillon cube

Drain tomatoes and squeeze out the excess liquid. Puree and combine with remaining ingredients. Simmer while the eggplant is cooking, about 20 minutes.

This is so fast to put together, two pots, on to simmer the sauce (which requires very little prep work) and another to cook the pasta in. Then just bake the eggplant (it doesn't leave a mess on the pan that is hard to get off either) and then PRESTO (PASTA NIGHT) you have dinner!

Thanks Helen of Fuss Free Flavors for hosting!