Pasta with Roasted Eggplant and Fresh Mozzarella

Happy Easter everybody! I didn't really celebrate the holiday, but I did start eating eggs and dairy again, at least for a day or two. I actually think I'm going to stick primarily with a vegan diet for a while. You should try it just as an experiment, you'll miss cheese a lot less than you think you would.

Anyhow, as you might expect, not many places were open on Easter Sunday, but as it turned out, many people were out looking for a place to eat, especially one offering a home cooked vegetarian meal. A steady stream flowed through the Brillobox all evening, including Jill and the staff of the Quiet Storm (a great vegetarian option all week long), as well as a young diner whose dad quietly pointed out that his eggplant-hater of a son was happily munching away having no idea what he was eating. Yes! Another unsuspecting convert!

Aaron and I got the sauce going by 2:30pm and had roasted in the neighborhood of 24 eggplants by 5:00pm. 10:00pm and 22 pounds of pasta later... the sixth dinner was another success!

Thanks for continuing to come and eat and for making this so much fun!

My Marinara

Olive Oil - enough to cover the bottom of your pan
Garlic - the more the merrier
Onions - rough chopped
Spices - crushed Red Pepper, Basil, Oregano
Fennel - optional (Aaron's suggestion)
Carrot - a whole one for sweetness
Sugar - if the carrot isn't doing it for you
Tomatoes - this is a great way to use up a summer's fresh abundance but cans work great too
Tomato Paste - enough to turn your juice into sauce
Lemon - a half or two
Wine - one for the sauce and one for you
Vinegar - Balsamic if you don't have any wine
Salt - from the sea
Pepper - fresh cracked

Heat your oil, garlic, onions and spices together until the onions are translucent. Add your carrot and tomatoes and get things simmering. Let it cook for a little while before you start adding the other ingredients, especially the salt which should come primarily at the end. Aaron says to save a little wine to add at the end too which I agree adds another tasty dimension.

The KEY to a good sauce is to just cook the hell out of it. The more hours that sucker simmers the better. My friend Joe Demase used to brag about keeping his sauce on for 24 (or was it 48?) hours, but 5 or 6 should do the trick.

Once the sauce has cooked for a while, puree for a nice thick consistency. Then toss with pasta, a little extra olive oil, some fresh cheese, some fresh herbs, and anything else you like from roasted eggplant to crumbled tempeh browned with onions, garlic and maybe a few walnuts.

There's nothing like homemade sauce! It takes a long time to cook but the prep is pretty simple and the result is so worth it!

Next week's menu...

(Vegan by nature not by design) Spicy ginger peanut stew over basmati rice with crispy tofu salad tossed with sweet soy dressing and toasted sesame seeds.

Starting at 6pm at the Brillobox.