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Eggplant, Tomato, and Sausage Pasta


The other night, I made the kind of red pasta sauce for which I have been hankering for the longest time. Hurrah! The photo shows the leftovers I ate for breakfast.

Getting that "perfect" taste was by accident so I have no idea if I will be able to do it again. Booo!

I'm one of those people who likes to read cookbooks but modifies recipes while cooking and doesn't pay attention to how things are being changed. I also rarely measure amounts, and, when I do, I'm eyeballing amounts. That's probably why my chemistry experiments in school usually failed. Ha! on the person who copied my answers.

Ingredients I Prepped
  1. Slice 1/4" circles out of two long Japanese eggplants
  2. Destem a handful of cremini mushrooms and slice them into halves
  3. Mince two fist fulls of chives (which is from the Mama's garden)
  4. Smash and mince 6 to 9 garlic cloves (assorted sizes of small to medium)
  5. Dice a small yellow onion.
  6. Slice 1/4" circles out of two basil-mozzarella sausages  (already precooked)
  7. Defrost a cereal bowl of frozen tomatoes, probably 10 to 14 small and medium size (which we had picked last year at a U-Pick organic tomato farm)
  8. Boil 8 ounces of  fresh garlic-basil pasta.
How I Cooked the Sauce

Saute the onions for a couple of minutes, then add the mushrooms, garlic and chives. Stir. A minute later, add the defrosted tomatoes. Stir. A few minutes later, add the eggplants. Stir. A minute later, add dried basil and black pepper. (I don't add salt because the Husband is on a low-salt diet.) Let it all simmer for about 5 minutes, gently stirring now and then to make sure the eggplants get cooked in the juices. Finally combine the sausages with the concoction. Continue cooking for another 5 minutes, stirring to make sure nothing gets stuck on the bottom of the pan. That happens to me a lot. (Note:  If the sausages weren't precooked, I would have added them after sauteing the onions.) Oh, at the last minute I threw in less than a handful of leftover snap peas.

The Verdict

I served the dish by first putting a layer of noodles on the plate, next a slice of provolone cheese, then a layer of the sauce. 

The Husband told me what he thought about the dish before I could ask. "Yum," he said. "This is like eggplant parmigiana."

"I like the eggplants," said the Mama. She ate most of the sauce, picking out almost all of the eggplants.

Molly the Cat turned away from a sampling, but she did give it a good sniff.

Comments

  1. Oh I am not a sausage girl at all. People question my German heritage but really-not a sausage girl so would have to try a different meat with this but glad your hubby liked it and Ms. Mew gave it a good sniff

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm thinking a version with shrimp, scallops, or ground pork might be good, as long as I put in more garlic and use a medium onion. Ah, I'm in a creative cooking mood right now.

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  2. Love the idea of layering the food on the plate ... will try next time.

    I made a pasta sauce a while back and we'd run out of pasta-y herbs so I emptied the last bits of Italian salad dressing into the mix - tasted great!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oooh, Italian salad dressing. I'll remember that. I'm always leaving bottles and jars with last bits because I never know when I can pop it into something.

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  3. Oh my gosh. I'm drooling. I'd have to leave out the sausage but yums to the rest! I butcher recipes too. lol

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think of it as instant creative gratification. :-)

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  4. I have been such a lax commenter, but what a day to get back to it :) I think that looks totally amazing, and it sounds so easy. I love the idea of the eggplant.

    http://bit2read.com/

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Thanks for the good cheer. :-)

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