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CHOW: Recipes: Eggplant-Pepper Tomato Sauce

Eggplant-Pepper Tomato Sauce Recipe

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Eggplant-Pepper Tomato Sauce
Difficulty: Easy | Total Time: 1 hr 30 mins | Active Time: | Makes: 7 cups

Packed with the flavors of summer, this sauce brightens up anything it’s paired with. Try it over pasta, poached eggs, grilled chicken, or even baked over polenta for a quick, satisfying gratin.

Game plan: If you’ve canned your own tomatoes, they can be used here. Just remove the tomatoes from their juice and dice them before proceeding with the recipe.

INGREDIENTS
  • 1 medium eggplant, medium dice (about 6 cups)
  • 8 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 medium yellow onion, coarsely chopped
  • 4 medium garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
  • 2 medium red, yellow, or orange bell peppers, medium dice (about 2 cups)
  • 1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes, strained
  • 2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth or water
  • 2 tablespoons fresh oregano leaves, coarsely chopped
  • 1/4 cup fresh Italian parsley leaves, coarsely chopped
  • 1/3 cup fresh basil leaves, coarsely chopped
INSTRUCTIONS
  1. Generously salt eggplant and place in a colander set in the sink. Weight it down with a bowl (the bowl should be pressing on the diced eggplant without crushing it) and set aside for 20 minutes to drain. Lightly blot eggplant with paper towels to remove excess moisture.
  2. Heat 6 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large straight-sided skillet or 12-inch frying pan over medium heat. Once heated, add eggplant and let sit, undisturbed, until it begins to soften, about 5 minutes. Stir and continue cooking until eggplant begins to color, about 8 minutes more. Remove eggplant from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside.
  3. Discard any remaining oil, wipe out the pan with paper towels, return it to the stove over medium heat, and add remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil. When oil is hot, add onion and garlic and cook until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
  4. Add bell pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until it softens and is just beginning to color, about 5 minutes.
  5. Add browned eggplant, tomatoes, and vegetable broth or water; bring to a simmer. Add oregano and simmer, stirring occasionally, until sauce is slightly thickened and vegetables are very soft, about 30 minutes.
  6. Stir in parsley and basil. Taste sauce and, if necessary, season with more salt and freshly ground black pepper.
    Write a review | 17 Reviews
POST A COMMENT |17 Comments

COMMENT

  • Cooks Illistrated has a method where you salt very thick sliced eggplant and dehydrate it by putting it in the microwave for 10 minutes. The salt just brushes right off after the eggplant cools. This prevents the eggplant from sucking up oil. My husband grills our eggplant in the simmer from our garden and I frreze it for winter use. It is so nice to have it all done, you just defrost and put it...+READ

    Cooks Illistrated has a method where you salt very thick sliced eggplant and dehydrate it by putting it in the microwave for 10 minutes. The salt just brushes right off after the eggplant cools. This prevents the eggplant from sucking up oil. My husband grills our eggplant in the simmer from our garden and I frreze it for winter use. It is so nice to have it all done, you just defrost and put it together for whatever dish you want. Growing your own is fun but buying in season and freezing saves lots of money.-COLLAPSE

  • I think you forgot the "rinse the salt off the eggplant" step. That way lies tragedy. I'm not sure that you need to go through the salting step anyway. As long as the oil is at the proper temperature, the eggplant will brown just fine without weeping. That bit of Maillard Reaction will add to the final dish, too. When I have a decent jar of red sauce, I'll dice an eggplant (did you mean to peel...+READ

    I think you forgot the "rinse the salt off the eggplant" step. That way lies tragedy. I'm not sure that you need to go through the salting step anyway. As long as the oil is at the proper temperature, the eggplant will brown just fine without weeping. That bit of Maillard Reaction will add to the final dish, too. When I have a decent jar of red sauce, I'll dice an eggplant (did you mean to peel the eggplant before dicing and cooking?), heat 1/8" (in the pan) of evoo, then brown the dice until golden. If you want to brown some onions and celery, either remove the eggplant until you're done, or cook the onions in a separate pan. Return the eggplant to the original pan so as not to waste the caramelized goodness. Then add the red sauce, keep the sauce fairly loose with water or wine, then let it cook down. Delicious. Great on angel hair or as a side dish.-COLLAPSE

  • i made this, and it was fantastic. and pretty easy. i will definitely make it again to share with family and friends.

  • First time I ever tried an eggplant dish (using garden veggies) and this turned out great! I did cut the amounts in half (just two of us), used a bit more onion and some parmesan, but basically your recipe worked fine.
    Thanks!

  • I made this a couple weeks ago, and froze it in quart size freezer bags. I used it this weekend in a fritatta - and it was delicious. I'm going to take advantage of the fall farmer's markets, and freeze a few batches.

  • love this recipe. i got it from chezpim.typepad.com http://chezpim.typepad.com/blogs/2006/09/renas_aubergine.html
    which is essentially the same, sans peppers.

    delicious.

  • It's good, I make something similar though after salting the eggplant I add it directly to the pan either with onions or without and then add diced tomatoes and carmalize it all in oil, It tastes amazing with pasta!

  • I tried this - it was really good over pasta. And the next day I scooped it, cold, onto leftover no-knead bread that I toasted, for a quick lunch. It was even better the next day.

  • Why can't i print these recpies?

  • I didn't actually read the recipe - just the title. Having a large farmer's market eggplant, I used it to make my own version. I browned 2 oz. of fine-dice pancetta, added thin-sliced onion, bell pepper, diced mushroom, basil, garlic, parmesan, S/P, sugar, and a 28oz can of crushed tomatoes. I'd mandolined the eggplant into quarter-inch slices, then hand-sliced into narrow strips. I did not...+READ

    I didn't actually read the recipe - just the title. Having a large farmer's market eggplant, I used it to make my own version. I browned 2 oz. of fine-dice pancetta, added thin-sliced onion, bell pepper, diced mushroom, basil, garlic, parmesan, S/P, sugar, and a 28oz can of crushed tomatoes. I'd mandolined the eggplant into quarter-inch slices, then hand-sliced into narrow strips. I did not salt/drain the eggplant. In the future I'd just put it into the cuisinart till roughly-chopped. I was very impressed with the hearty, umami quality of this nearly-meatless version and will definitely make it again.-COLLAPSE

  • This dish seems very Hearty, Cant wait to try it with Polenta.
    :)

  • This dish seems very Hearty, Cant wait to try it with Polenta.
    :)

  • This dish seems very Hearty, Cant wait to try it with Polenta.
    :)

  • This dish seems very Hearty, Cant wait to try it with Polenta.
    :)

  • Isabella: We tested this recipe 5 times and these were our results: each time our eggplant weighed 13 to 15 1/2 ounces and, once they were cut into medium dice, we yielded 5 3/4 to 6+ cups.

  • I was thinking it might be a good idea to cook the eggplant under the broiler, like when you make baba ghanoush, scoop it out then add it to the recipe, for that smoky flavor.

  • One medium eggplant = 6 cups?

    Not in my world!