The Gluten-Free Homemaker

I’ve been receiving eggplant in my CSA box the last few weeks, and I bet some of you have too.  I usually use eggplant in ratatouille, but that recipe uses the oven.  So would something like eggplant parmesan, plus I’m back to being dairy free.  I wanted a recipe that used the stove top, and I was in the mood for pasta.  The result was a pasta sauce with eggplant.  I’m sure this would also work great in a slow cooker.
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I don’t cook with eggplant very often since my husband and one of my kids are not fond of it.  However, I didn’t remember why my son doesn’t like it.  When I saw him picking the eggplant out of this sauce, I told him he needed to eat his vegetables.  He said, “Eggplant upsets my stomach and makes my tongue hurt.”  If he was a little kid I might think he was making it up, but at 16 he wouldn’t say it makes his tongue hurt and expect to get away with it unless it was true.  As for his stomach, red delicious apples bother him too, and he loves apples.  And so, eggplant will continue to be something I cook only occasionally.

Gluten-Free Eggplant Pasta Sauce

• 8 c. chopped eggplant
• 2 Tb. salt
• 4 c. skinned and copped tomatoes
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1/2 c. chopped bell pepper (color of choice, I used red & purple)
• 1 large clove garlic, minced
• 2 Tb. olive oil
• 1 tsp. dried basil
• 3 oz. tomato paste
• 1/2 – 1 lb. ground beef, turkey or sausage

Chop the eggplant (I did not peel it) and put it in a colander.  Add the salt, tossing to coat all the pieces.  Let it sit and drain for 1 hour.  Rinse with cold water.

The tomatoes can easily be skinned by putting them into a pot of boiling water for 1 minute.  Remove to a bowl of ice water.  The skins will come right off the tomato.  Chop the tomatoes, but do not drain them.
In a large skillet sauté the onion, peppers and garlic in the olive oil.  When they have softened some, add the eggplant, tomatoes, and basil.  Cook until the eggplant and tomatoes are softened.  If the mixture needs to be thickened, add tomato pasted until it is the consistency you want. 

While that is cooking, cook the meat in another skillet until browned and cooked through.  Drain the meat and stir it into the sauce.  Serve over pasta.

Makes about 8 servings.

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Labels: main dish recipes