Caramelized Onion & Eggplant Marinara over WW Spaghetti, Garlic Sauteed Green Beans, Garlic Bread & Salad

I have a ridiculously huge collection of cookbooks.  Just ask my husband.  Really.  It's kind of out of control.  I go on Amazon shopping sprees once or twice a year and buy all the fun new vegan and/or gluten free cookbooks out there.  And when I moved from Michigan to NY over five years ago, I brought them all here with me.  And I'm sure I have at least doubled the amount I had when I came here.  It's crazy.  It's my unrealistic and improbable goal to make all of the recipes out of most of the best of the cookbooks.  I have made many out of the cookbook Vegan Yum Yum by Lauren Ulm and have had pretty good results.  This is one of the recipes I made out of the cookbook with tasty results.  It was very interesting and tasty, although I definitely prefer my homemade marinara sauce.  Still it was a fun experiment, and another recipe from the book down.

Caramelized Onion & Eggplant Marinara:



Hubby's Tasty plate.  Lucky guy!


2 eggplants, peeled, cut into discs, then into strips
1 teaspoon sea salt, for sprinkling on eggplant
1/3 cup olive oil
1 medium vidalia onion, sliced into strips
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
28 ounce can pureed tomatoes
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon sea salt

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 
2.  Line a sheet tray with two layers of paper towels.  Spread the discs of eggplant on top of the paper towels, stacking in layers if necessary.  Sprinkle all of the eggplant with the sea salt.  Let the eggplant sweat for a while, about 15 minutes, then remove the damp paper towels.
3.  Drizzle the eggplant with 1/4 cup of the olive oil and toss to coat.  Place in the oven and cook for 20 minutes, stirring periodically.
4.  Add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil to a large saute pan oven medium high heat.  Once the pan is hot, add the onion and cook, stirring periodically until it has a nice golden color, about 10 minutes. 
5.  Add the garlic and spices: thyme, basil, oregano, sea salt and black pepper.  Cook for about a minute, stirring frequently.  Add the tomato puree and stir well.
6.  Check on the eggplant.  It should be nicely cooked, soft and browned.  Add to the sauce and stir to coat.  Allow the sauce to simmer for 15 minutes, stirring periodically.  Season to taste.
7.  Serve over cooked pasta.


Close-up of the tasty, chunky sauce

Enjoy!

Koko