Stir-fried aubergine (eggplant) with tomato and chili

THIS IS A BLUE RECIPE

I went for lunch at a Chinese restaurant and had this more-ish dish so decided to try and make it at home. It goes very well with the my adobo recipe from a few days ago.
For 2

2 tablespoons of oil

1 large aubergine cut lengthwise into sticks of about 1 inch thickness

1 large tomato finely chopped

1 dessertspoon of sweet chili sauce

A dash of hot chili sauce

½ dessertspoon of rice vinegar

1 couple of dashes of light soy sauce

Heat the oil and add the aubergines, add some salt

When softish, add the tomato and soften

Add the rest of the ingredients and turn the heat down, cook until the aubergine is soft and transparent

Aubergine/Eggplant Baked Pasta

I know, I know, yet another pasta al forno dish! I can’t help it, I find baked pasta so comforting and easy for larger numbers. Make sure you make enough sauce otherwise it gets really dry when baked.

Serves 3-4

- One 500 gram packet of short pasta (rigatoni, macaroni, gomiti, penne etc)
- 1 tablespoon of light olive oil
- 800 gram tin of plum tomatoes
- ½ pint of yoghurt
- Tablespoon of pesto (the best you can get or homemade is ideal)
- 1 large aubergine (eggplant) finely sliced into rounds
- Salt and pepper
- 1 cup of hard Italian cheese – a mixture of pecorino and parmesan would be great

- Heat the oil and add the tomatoes

- Cook down to make a thick sauce (this takes quite while, about 40 minutes) , add salt to taste

- At the same time cook the pasta in well salted water

- Add the pesto and mix well – remove from heat

- Add yoghurt and mix well

- Put the cooked pasta in a baking dish

- Pour over the sauce

- Top with aubergine and cheese

- Cover and bake for 30 minutes

- Cook uncovered for another 10 minutes until cheese is bubbling and the aubergine is cooked through

Aubergines

Vegetables are plentiful and cheap here and I am happy to finally buy aubergines again. I didn't in the UK very often because they were expensive. Aubergines are so versatile and because of the porous flesh, are great to marinate. I marinated these slices in a store bought marinade, which was really a waste of time and should have kept to my own concoctions.

Try:

White miso paste, dashi, rice vinegar and spring onions.

Ketchup, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, honey , sesame oil and five spice powder.

Lemon juice, olive oil, garlic and parsley.

I haven't given measurements as I usually just keep adding until I get the taste I want. You can slice the aubergines lengthways and marinate them in larger slices, or cut them small like I did here. Then, either grill, roast or fry.