This can be served with italian-style sausage, if desired. A short, sturdy pasta like rigatoni, rotini or penne is the best choice for this chunky sauce. NOTE: This recipe takes ~2 1/2 hours.
Ingredients
- 1 medium eggplant (~1 lb), trimmed and cut into 3/4-inch cubes
- 1/4 cup extra virgin oil oil
- 1/2 medium yellow onion, chopped
- 1 teaspoon light brown sugar
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/4 teaspoon oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon basil
- 1/4 teaspoon thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- pinch red pepper flakes
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/2 cup white wine
- 1 28 oz can of diced tomatoes in juice
- 2 tablespoons capers, drained
- 10 oz rigatoni (~4 cups)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F
- Toss eggplant with olive oil. Scatter onion over the eggplant and sprinkle with brown sugar. Bake for ~45 minutes, stirring twice to prevent edges from browning.
- While the eggplant is baking, combine garlic, herbs, salt, red pepper, bay leaves, white wine, and diced tomatoes in a medium bowl.
- After the eggplant has roasted for 45 minutes, remove it from the oven and stir in the tomato mixture. Reduce oven to 350F, cover the roasting pan with aluminum foil, and roast for another 1 1/2 hours until the eggplant is very tender.
- Remove the sauce from the oven, stir in capers, remove bay leaves, and let cool uncovered for 5 minutes.
- Toss with pasta and serve, with Parmesan, if desired.