Thursday 4 April 2013

Eggplant-cellent Sauce

I love to cook, but I don't often make my own tomato sauce. Usually when I cook with tomato sauce I am either making a lasagna that requires too much effort already or I am making a quick weeknight supper and I just want to to grab a jar of pre made sauce from my pantry. 

Now that I've made this Tomato and Eggplant Sauce, I will no longer be reaching for the jar come pasta night. I have served this sauce with spaghetti, spaghetti squash, and polenta and each time it's been right on the money. I still haven't made it into a lasagna yet, but I bet I could come up with a lasagna recipe that would be perfect for it!

Tomato and Eggplant Sauce with Polenta - serves 4

1 large eggplant, roughly chopped into centimetre square pieces
2 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 large can of chopped tomatoes
3 teaspoons brown sugar
3 teaspoons chili powder
2 teaspoons fresh parsley, finely chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
1/3 recipe polenta from Stuffed Polenta
1/2 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels
1/4 cup grated Parmesan, if desired

1. Fry eggplant in oil until a little crispy and quite soft, about 5 - 8 minutes.

2. Stir in the tomato paste and then add in tomatoes, sugar, chili powder, and parsley. Simmer sauce on low for about 10-15 minutes to let flavours mellow. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

3. While sauce is simmering, make your polenta and stir in the corn kernels for a little crunch. If you'd prefer pasta or spaghetti squash in place of polenta, they go great with this sauce too.

4. Serve and sprinkle on a little cheese if desired.

I know this sauce doesn't sound like much. When I first made this dish and called out that supper was ready, I thought to myself that it might not be very good. It just took one bite to get hooked though. And the fact that the dinner took no time to make didn't hurt either!

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