Fresh Eggplant Tomato Sauce with Spaghetti

Now for those of you who have been following my blog, this recipe may seem semi-familiar, and to be honest it kind of is. This is a variation of my Spaghetti with Fresh Burst Cherry Tomato Sauce. I have made many variations of this recipe in the past using whatever veggies I had in the fridge, so you can take this one as an encouragement to create your own variation on a classic (at least a classic in my recipe book) haha =). Like I had mentioned in the original recipe, I pretty much eat this of some variation of this at least once a week. There are weeks when I have it almost everyday for lunch. Literally the only reason I won’t eat it everyday is because I will feel guilty, and think that I should probably be eating less carbs, or more greens or something healthier at least at some point during the week. (Having a healthy lifestyle is hard work… I’m still learning). But it happens often when the craving for this tomato based sauce takes over and I have no choice but to just make it. I have weak resolve apparently. Put a chocolate chip cookie in front of me, and I could probably easily turn it down (except during my chocolate craving phase of the month if you know what I mean ;-)…) but put a plate of spaghetti with a fresh and savory tomato based sauce and I will NEVER turn it down.

Lets get started!

First you want to start with preparing all your fresh ingredients so they are already ready when you need them. The tomatoes, eggplant, garlic and chili pepper if you are using it. The important thing to remember when you are cutting the tomatoes and also the eggplant for this sauce at least is that the size of what you cut doesn’t matter as long as the peel for each piece is small. The rest of the fruit will eventually mostly dissolve into the sauce, but the peel will hold its size, so as long as you cut the fruit (yes eggplant and tomatoes are both fruit) so that the peel is small it’s all good. You can see in the image how the eggplant pieces are “tall”. The fruit attached to the eggplant is  big, but the peel attached it is not too big. It’s just less work to worry about cutting it this way instead of into cubes.

Heat some oil in a pan on medium- medium high heat and wait until it gets hot to add the eggplant. Eggplant is notorious for absorbing as much oil as possible so if you add it before the oil gets hot, the few pieces that make contact with the oil will just absorb it like a sponge. If the oil is hot enough (shimmery) then at least it will last long enough to spread to more of the pieces before getting absorbed. It’s okay if you don’t see any oil for a while, you don’t have to add any more unless you find it sticking.Once you add the eggplant sprinkle some salt onto the eggplant, it will help to remove the inherent bitterness that eggplant has. The reason we cook the eggplant first in this recipe before adding the tomatoes is to get a good browning and caramelizing on them. This really adds a lot of complex flavor to the eggplant without really adding any extra work. 

After some time, you will see that the eggplant is starting to brown and reduce in size. This is good, but it’s not done yet. Keep cooking it.

Here you will notice that now the eggplant has lost its “raw” color completely and has caramelized nicely.  and has begun to fall apart at the fruit furthest away from the peel. This is exactly what you are looking for. 

Add the fresh diced tomatoes now to the eggplant now. The moisture from the tomatoes will create a lot of steam, that’s expected. 

Make sure you mix everything nicely so that the tomatoes can have as much contact with the pan as possible. Mix around every minute or so. You may need to add a little bit more oil at this point, you need to decide for yourself at this moment.

Once you mix in the tomatoes, also mix in the garlic and chopped chili peppers.

After a few minutes you will notice the pan will be getting quite dry. The moisture will have been reduced greatly. Unlike with the cherry tomato sauce, this one needs a little bit of help to continue cooking.

At this point add some water to the pan to bring back some moisture so the tomatoes and the eggplant can continue to cook down. The water also helps to distribute the flavors of the garlic and chili pepper more evenly. If you are going to add more spices, now is the time since the water will help it dissolve into the sauce evenly. I added a little bit more salt and some cayenne pepper and freshly ground pepper. 

You want to cook down the sauce again all the way until it almost all of the moisture is gone. Be sure to occasionally gently smush the eggplant and tomato with a fork or spoon as its cooking and you are stirring it around.  You can see now how much the tomato and eggplant have cooked down.

Remove the pan from the heat and give it a minute to cool down slightly. Then add a pad of butter and mix into the sauce while its melting. Now the sauce is ready to receive the pasta!

Once your pasta is done cooking (I prefer to eat this with spaghetti but you can really use any pasta you prefer). Make sure the pasta is slightly undercooked it will finish cooking with the sauce. Put the pan back onto a medium heat stove and add the almost cooked noodles and 1/4 cup of pasta water. Mix around and cook the sauce with the noodles until you no longer see much water left when you pull the pasta back towards or push it away from you. 

Thats it! Then you are ready to serve! =)

Feel free to top it with some freshly grated parmesan or pecorino cheese for an added layer of flavor =)

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do! Be sure to let me know if you try it in the comments! =)