Surprise! Eggplant Is Delish!

One of my many blessings happens to be sharing recipes with my sisters. A few weeks back Pam told me about a great Angel Hair Pasta with Eggplant and Tomatoes recipe. Ok, I thought, I will try it sometime, but honestly it wasn't high on my list. She insisted it was really good, but I remembered the big purple fruits of the eggplant that my Grandpa grew in his garden and brought to my mom. All I can remember is that it was "slimy", but a few days ago an eggplant found its way into my grocery cart anyway. After all, Pam said it would be good and she is pretty much always right about such things.

Today was the day to give it a try so here we go with the recipe, my version of it. 

Angel Hair Pasta with Eggplant and Tomatoes

1 medium eggplant, sliced into 1/3" thick rounds

4 yellow mini peppers

Olive oil cooking spray

1 tsp. olive oil

3/4 tsp. salt, divided

1 clove garlic, minced

1 large fresh tomatoes, cut into large dice

1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

1/4 tsp. black pepper

2 Tbsp. fresh basil,  minced (or 2 tsp. dried basil)

2 Tbsp. fresh chives, minced (or 2 tsp. dried chives)

1/2 c. chicken broth

8 oz. angel hair pasta, cooked according to package directions

4 oz. feta cheese, crumbled

Preheat grill to medium. Lay eggplant slices in single layer on a cookie sheet. Spray with olive oil cooking spray and sprinkle with 1/2 tsp. of salt, flip and continue with other side. Transfer eggplant slices and whole mini peppers to grill rack. After 2-3 minutes (or when lightly browned) flip over and cook the other side. Cook until eggplant is tender and until peppers soften. Remove from grill. Cut into bite side pieces, discarding pepper seeds and stems. Set aside.

Cook pasta in boiling water according to package directions.

Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and cook until softened, about 1 minute. Do not let garlic burn. Add tomatoes and cook until slightly softened. Add cooked vegetables, remaining 1/4 tsp. salt, remaining seasonings, and chicken broth and cook for a few minutes until broth is slightly reduced. Add cooked pasta and toss to coat. Add cheese just before serving.

Serves 6

Vegetable sauce is done!

Here's what I did . . .

Remembering that a recipe like this one is a guideline, I made a few little changes. When it came to salting the eggplant slices, I simply cranked my grinder a bit on each side of each slice after I lightly sprayed it. I didn't measure the 1/2 teaspoon.

Get all the vegetables cut and ready to go. Measure all the seasonings and the chicken broth. Prep before cooking, so that nothing overcooks while you are prepping.

I didn't have angel hair on hand, but I did have bow tie pasta. That will work! It will be different, but good, all the same. Pasta is pasta. It took less time to cook the sauce than the pasta, so I got the water boiling and the bow ties were cooking before I started cooking the sauce. If you use angel hair, it will cook faster than my pasta. When it is done, drain it. Put it in a bowl and cover it to keep it warm until your sauce is ready.

I didn't have feta either, but I did have a chunk of parmesan, so I grated some of that to use instead. Feta would be really good, so I will try that next time, but the parmesan was delicious, too. Use what you have.

Personally, I like vegetables so I made the full amount of sauce, but only cooked half the amount of pasta. That gave me plenty of pasta and sauce for 3 delicious meals. 

I am already thinking ahead to the next time and the possibility of adding purple onion or maybe adding some fresh spinach at the very end of the cooking time.

I liked the eggplant much more than I expected. It was a happy little surprise and now I want to try more recipes to see just what I have been missing!

Serve with a salad for a great dinner.

According to the recipe notes, you can roast the vegetables instead of grilling. Preheat oven to 425ºF. Line a baking sheet with foil and give it a spray. Place vegetables on prepared baking sheet and coat with cooking spray; season with 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Roast, until lightly browned, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and cool to room temperature.

Eggplant, give it a try! You might like it, just like I did. It's never too late to learn something new!