Eggplant Pasta

Eggplants are such beautiful produce items that I am always drawn to purchase one of them. However, once I get it home in the fridge, I often have trouble using it before it goes bad. This pasta dish is now a reason we choose to buy eggplant-it is the star ingredient. Plus, it's easy to make and the helping vegetables can be flexible. The only item on the recipe that I have to make sure to buy (besides the eggplant) is a can of diced tomatoes (I prefer the Italian flavored or garlic flavored cans, but I don't think it really matters).

1 TBS ghee, butter, or oil
2 tsp basil
2 tsp oregano
2 tsp salt
1/4-1/2 tsp ground pepper
3 1/2 tsp garlic
1 medium size eggplant
1/2 onion
1 cup either chopped asparagus, squash, or broccoli (your choice, or more than one of them)
1 can diced tomatoes-undrained
3/4-1 box angel hair pasta (depending on your preferred pasta to sauce ratio)*


*If you don't have angel hair pasta, plain spaghetti, fettucine, or even shaped pasta will work just fine. It just seems to go better with long pasta in my opinion. 

Cook pasta according to package directions. Put the ghee in a large fry pan and melt. When melted, add the basil and oregano. Saute the spices briefly over medium heat (it will smell very good). Add the onions, salt, pepper and garlic along with a little bit of water to prevent pan sticking. Cook 2-5 minutes. Add the eggplant and other veggies (if you are using broccoli, do not add it here, wait). Cook about 10 minutes on medium high heat, adding water to the pan as needed. When the veggies are cooked, add the can of tomatoes (if using broccoli, add the broccoli now). Turn heat to low or off and cover while straining the pasta. Mix the pasta and the veggies together. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese if you'd like. Serve.

Yield: 2-4 servings. This will vary depending on the amount of pasta used.