Pasta with Spicy Roasted Eggplant Tomato sauce

When planning for this recipe, I didn't expect it to come out so good! Basically I had some eggplants on hand and searched for a recipe of something I could do with them... and pasta, because I was just in the mood for pasta. This creamy pasta sauce recipe caught my eye so I used it as an inspiration and took it and modified it quite a bit like I usually do with recipes :)

Making this sauce was pretty simple and didn't take very long... I added some extra protein in there, and some spicy peppers so not only can it be a complete meal but it's great for clearing the sinuses (if you don't do spicy- just skip the peppers). It's so filling yet you won't be able to get enough because it's so tasty! Enjoy :)

Ingredients:

2 small long eggplants, or 1 medium one cut into small pieces

1 large can of stewed tomatoes or a few fresh large ones (or many small ones!), fresh ones chopped

handful of green onion/chives, chopped

2 small spicy bell peppers (not sure the variety; these were home grown in a friend's yard but you can use any kind of spicy peppers or opt out completely if you don't do spicy! 2 small peppers made this dish a mild-medium level of spicy. To keep the flavor but to cut back on heat rinse peppers really well with water to get off some of the oils that give it its heat)

olive oil

2 tablespoons of lemon juice

1 can of garbanzo beans

a few garlic gloves, chopped

dash of salt

1-2 tablespoons of a mixed seasoning of your choice

1 package of whole wheat or veggie pasta


Directions:

Saute eggplant in a frying pan with enough olive oil to cover the pan and allow the eggplant to soak it up. Add green onions, peppers and garlic allow everything to cook until the eggplants start to brown a little. Mix in your stewed or fresh tomatoes and spices and keep stirring so the mixture doesn't burn. Allow everything to cook for about 10-15 minutes.

While sauce ingredients are cooking, put a package of dried pasta into a pot of water and cook according to package directions (usually around 15 minutes) until soft.

Pour sauce contents into a food processor, and add lemon juice and can of garbanzo beans (drained). Blend well.

Mix cooked pasta and sauce together in a large bowl to serve and enjoy!