We usually celebrate the arrival of eggplant season by stashing the big purple veggies that come in our weekly CSA share in the refrigerator’s vegetable bin. A month or two later, we celebrate the end of season by removing several rotten eggplants from the vegetable bin and throwing them in the trash can.
The reason for this wasteful behavior is obvious to Hiram and me. We are eggplant impaired due to parental neglect. Neither of our gardening mothers grew eggplant, nor did they ever, ever, ever cook with it. So the weird, purple, tasteless food never entered our culinary paradigm. (That was some pretty good jargon there, don’t ya think?)
But in last week’s CSA newsletter, there was a recipe for eggplant pomadora pasta that sounded good enough to try. So I gave it a whirl. And guess what? It was both easy and mighty tasty. So tasty, in fact, that I’m going to make it again. Which means that at least some of our eggplant crop will experience death by glorious digestion rather than a seedy, slow death in the vegetable bin.
The recipe originally came from Eating Well, but I messed around with it enough to claim it as my own. Give it a try and leave a comment with your opinion and changes to the recipe.
Eggplant Pomodora Pasta
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium eggplant, (about 1 pound), cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup onions, chopped
4 plum tomatoes, diced – I used 4 of whatever tomatoes came in our CSA bag
1/3 cup chopped pitted kalamata olives
2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
12 ounces pasta
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley, or basil – I can’t believe I forgot to add the basil!
Put a pot of water on to boil.
Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add eggplant and cook, stirring occasionally, until just softened, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and onions. Cook, stirring, until fragrant, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Add tomatoes, olives, vinegar, salt, pepper and crushed red pepper. Cook, stirring, until the tomatoes begin to break down, 5 to 7 minutes more.
Meanwhile, cook pasta in boiling water until just tender, about 6 minutes or according to package directions. Drain and divide the pasta among 6 shallow bowls. Spoon the sauce over the pasta and sprinkle parsley (or basil) on top.
