Pasta with Eggplant and Roasted Red Peppers

Eggplant is one of my favorite vegetables, but I never really did very many things with it. Our usual way of cooking eggplant in the summer is frying it. We peel and slice the eggplant, salt it and let it sit for a bit, dip it in an egg wash, coat it in bread crumbs, and pan fry it in olive oil. It's so delicious. But we got these little eggplants at the co-op the other day (I think they're Japanese eggplants) and they were too skinny to fry, so I made this pasta instead. It turned out really good.

Ingredients (for two):

• 1/2 lb pasta of choice (I have no idea what this pasta is called. The bag just says "Italian Pasta.")
• 1 large eggplant or 3 small Japanese eggplants
• 1 large tomato
• 2 cloves garlic
• handful of fresh basil, chopped
• olive oil
• 1/4 grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 roasted red pepper (optional- I've made it with and without, and they were both good)

Peel and dice eggplant into 1/2 inch cubes. Put in a colander, sprinkle with salt, and let sit in the sink or over a bowl for about 10-15 minutes. Heat 4-5 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pan over medium heat and add the eggplant. Chop garlic and add to the pan. Season with pepper.

While the eggplant is cooking, dice the tomato. If you are using the pepper, begin roasting it. I just cut mine in half lengthwise and put it under the broiler until the skin was charred. Once roasted, peel off the skin and dice.

When the eggplant is about halfway cooked, add the tomatoes, peppers, and about 2-3 more tablespoons of olive oil. Put on water for pasta and cook until tender. When eggplant mixture is cooked through, add pasta, cheese and basil to the pan. Let cook a few more minutes and add salt and pepper, to taste.

Serve with crusty bread.