Dinner - Slow-Cooker Eggplant and Tomato Sauce

Tonight we decided to make a meal early using our slow cooker. I'd been saving this recipe from an old issue of All You magazine (yes yes...I read weird women's magazines from Wal-Mart for easy recipes.), and had been wanting to make it for a while.

Matt's not the keenest on eggplant, but for some reason (perhaps because I kept mentioning it?? haha) he decided that we could finally try it. And I think he liked it too!! The eggplant's flavor kind of takes on the flavor of the tomato sauce, something I think eggplant does pretty well. Every time I make or eat it, it seems super versatile, picking up flavor just the way tofu does.

We put the sauce into the slow cooker, meanwhile, I went to a friend's baby shower (shoutout to Erica!), and Matt probably did something Matt-like (i.e. play video games). I texted him to start the pasta before I started to drive home.

Sidenote about the pasta so you are not totally confused as to what it is in the photo... I don't know why or when she started this, but my mom really likes to get us shaped pasta and does so for many holidays. We decided to use our most recent gift of Christmas shaped pasta so we wouldn't be caught eating Christmas pasta in June like we did last year! I will say, the holiday pastas generally hold up really well in cooking and you can cook an "al dente" style easily.


Slow-Cooker Eggplant and Tomato Sauce with Pasta
(Recipe on All You)

-1-28 oz. can diced tomatoes, drained (Matt didn't drain ours and it turned out fine..oops)
-1-6 oz. can tomato paste
-1/2 cup red wine or water (we used red wine obvi)
-1 medium eggplant cut into 1/2 inch cubes
-1 onion, finely chopped (we forgot to get an onion, so I subbed Penzey's minced onion flakes)
-2 cloves garlic, minced
-1 teaspoon dried oregano (we used Italian Seasoning instead)
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-1 pound pasta (curly or fusilli recommended)

Combine tomatoes, tomato paste, wine/water, eggplant, onion, garlic, oregano and salt in slow cooker and cook on low 5-7 hours or until eggplant is soft and sauce thick.

Start salted boiling water for pasta just before sauce is due to be done, approximately 30 minutes. Cook pasta according to package, drain and toss with sauce. Top with freshly shredded Parmesan cheese (something we forgot! SAD!!).

Serve with garlic bread and remaining red wine (YAY!!) if desired! Enjoy!

(Recipe says it serves 6 but I think you could stretch it to 8.)