Only two days ago we were wading through the yellow leaves in
perfectly normal Halloween weather, and then BAM! Winter arrived with
vengeance. With fifteen degrees colder than seasonal, we got snow and ice! Considering
all things, cooking up our last two eggplants with tomatoes from the garden is
not so unusual. As sad as the turn of the weather, the venture into today’s intuitive food preparation turned out well.
I made two dishes with one stroke. Today we had the pasta.
Tomorrow’s story is an Eggplant Salad.
EGGPLANT PASTA
2 cups sliced eggplants
2 cups of chopped red and yellow peppers
extra virgin olive oil
1 cup of sliced, coarsely chopped red onions
3 Roma tomatoes cut into wedges
2 cloves of garlic
thickly sliced good quality bacon, chopped into 1 inch squares
2/3 cup grated havarti
1/2 cup whipping cream
pasta cooked al dente
- Prepare the vegetables for cooking.
- On a parchment lined baking tray arrange the egg plants and the peppers in a single layer.
- Generously sprinkle with olive oil.
- Place the baking tray in the oven and turn on the broil setting.
- Broil until the eggplants lightly softened.
- Remove from the oven and transfer the eggplant mixture to a large mixing bowl.
- Heat up a non stick skillet on medium heat.
- Add 2 Tbsp olive oil, the onions, tomatoes and the diced garlic to the skillet.
- Sauté until the tomatoes are starting to let their juice.
- Remove from heat and add to the bowl with the eggplants.
- Sprinkle with salt to taste.
- On medium heat, lightly fry the chopped bacon until just soft and very lightly browned. Good quality bacon will barely render any fat.
- Transfer the vegetable mixture to the skillet with the bacon and stir lightly to combine.
- Sprinkle the grated cheese over the vegetables and add the whipping cream.
- Heat trough and serve immediately with pasta.
- Yields 4 servings.
