Roasted Eggplant Spread

I often fall in love with eggplant at the grocery store -- and then get it home and dither about what to make with it. This recipe turned out to be quite a nice way to enjoy the bounty of the season, although I ended up using the "spread" as a pasta sauce for penne.

Very simple to make -- one inch pieces of eggplant, red pepper and red onion (I had to use a yellow onion since that's what I had on hand), two cloves of garlic minced, all tossed with 3 T. EVOO and salt and pepper then roasted in a 400 degree oven for 40-45 minutes. Dump it all in a food processor with a tablespoon of tomato paste, process and season to taste.

In order to make it work a bit better with my penne, I added a bit more EVOO and some pasta water when saucing the pasta. Finished with some feta and basil and it was good enough that we were both very glad I'd made enough for small second helpings.

If I do this again -- and I probably will -- I will roast fresh tomatoes along with the eggplant and other veggies and skip the tomato paste.

The recipe is also available in the Barefoot Contessa Family Style cookbook.