Fresh Tomato Pasta

This is usually something I make in the summer when I have lots of yummy tomatoes in hand. Right now it's cold and it's rainy and I miss summer! I miss it so much I've been cooking some "summery" dishes because I honestly am sick of all the winter food. No more roasts and casseroles....I'm over it! Again this is going to be one of those recipes with out exact measurements. It's actually something I tend to cook when it's just me so I'm usually just grabbing a handful of everything. Just enough to feed me! This is truly one of my favorite things to eat. It's pretty good for you yet unbelievably decadent and comforting to eat. Something about the warm, fresh tasting sauce mingled with the cold, creamy cheese is just too good.

Ingredients:

Pasta - angel hair nests are my favorite for fast cook time, but a spaghetti or like shape and size will work well

Sweet onion - for just me I use about a quarter of an onion, chopped into about a 1/4 inch dice

Eggplant - 1 small Italian eggplant per person or approximately 1/2 cup, chopped into 1/4 inch dice (i remove the skin too. It makes for a better end texture)

Tomatoes - In the summer 1 or 2 regular garden tomatoes, this time a handful of cherry tomatoes (the same gourmet blend as I used for roasted vegs)

Garlic - one small clove per person, minced

Olive oil - approximately 4 tablespoons per person, it should coat your saute pan and have a tiny bit of depth in the pan

Boil salted water for pasta and then cook pasta when water boils. Go ahead and get this part started first so the pasta is cooking at the same time as the sauce. Both will cook very quickly

1. heat olive oil over med heat

2. add onion to pan and let begin to soften

3. once onion has gotten soft and turned a bit golden, add eggplant

4. once eggplant has cooked down a bit and softened and turned golden, add in garlic

5. let garlic become fragrant and then add tomatoes

6. season with salt and pepper

7. you don't need to cook very long, you just want to tomatoes to heat through and burst so they release their juices a bit

8. top the cooked pasta with the sauce and add fresh basil and mozzarella cheese (Buffalo Mozzarella is superior in this dish, but regular fresh, cow does the trick)