Eggplant and Tomato Pasta

Nothing really interesting going on this week (thankfully). So here's a recipe I tried a few nights ago.

This was my first experience with eggplant. For whatever reason, its just not something I've ever been served. I bought one several months ago with a recipe in mind, but when I cut it up it was brown and nasty lookin inside. DH bought a few eggplants from a local farm this week. Some purple ones and some white ones. I didn't even know white eggplants existed! So I'm not sure if they taste any different - but I'll find out soon, I guess.

Earlier this week, I searched the Web for eggplant recipes. Pretty much the main thing you find when you Google that is eggplant Parmesan. I can't explain it, but that just doesn't sound good to me. So I kept looking. I ended up finding a recipe at Foodnetwork.com that sounded good. Instead of printing it out, I e-mailed it to myself so I could just pull it up on my phone that night.

Well, the link didn't work. And when I searched for it again, every link was broken. Luckily, I sort of remembered how it went, so I just winged it. It turned out pretty good!

okay, it doesn't LOOK that good, does it? haha

Of course, I was the only one in my house who would eat it. I thought it was delicious, though. It was super easy to make, too. Since no one else liked it, I would probably only make it again as a side dish just for me.

Here's what I did:

I peeled and cubed the eggplant, then tossed it in a cast iron frying pan with a ton of salt and olive oil. I had heard that eggplant takes a lot of salt, and it does. It also eats oil like its goin out of style. I kept havin to add more. I cooked it down for a few minutes, then added a can of diced tomatoes and cooked that for a while. (I told you I was winging this!) I had no idea what eggplant looked like when it was done, or what texture it should be, so I just cooked it til it was very tender and most of the tomato juice was cooked down. In the meantime, I cooked a bot of pasta. When everything was done, I just tossed it all together in my serving dish. I sprinkled Parmesan cheese on top just before serving. Delicious! And simple. Too bad my husband and child wouldn't eat it. Oh well.

If anyone has any delicious eggplant recipes, I'd love to hear them!