My mom and I have always had a saying when it comes to the meals we love…”Mmmm, I could eat this every week!” Well a gazillion years ago, when my mom started making this Eggplant Garlic Sauce, that’s exactly what we said, and we still love it. It’s so good and so easy, it would be hard to get sick of having it for dinner weekly.
Eggplant is one of my favorite vegetables. I love eggplant parm, I love it grilled, I love eggplant fries. I love regular eggplants and Japanese eggplants. They just take on the flavors you’re cooking with beautifully. This sauce uses lots of fresh garlic and basil, and well, that’s a winning combo to begin with.
Begin by sautéing diced carrots, chopped onions and minced garlic in a little olive oil until the veggies are tender. Then add a large can of crushed tomatoes and some tomato paste. Season with some salt, pepper and crushed red pepper. While the sauce simmers, slice the eggplant into 1/4″ slices and broil on each side for a few minutes. Remove from the oven and cut the eggplant into strips. Then wash, pat dry and chop the basil. Finally, toss the eggplant strips into the sauce along with the basil, give it a stir and you are done. We eat this over rotini pasta which holds up well to this rustic, hearty sauce. Top with a little fresh parmesan and a little more basil and enjoy!
A Tip!
I will admit that though I grew up eating and loving this sauce, my kiddos were not all that enthused about the “chunks.” But don’t let that stop your from making this awesome meal. It’s easy enough to spice up another can of crushed tomatoes and serve picky eaters the pasta with a simple tomato sauce!
- 1 T. olive oil
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 carrots, diced
- 1 – 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
- 2 T. tomato paste
- 8 – 1/4″ slices eggplant
- salt, pepper and crushed red pepper, to taste
- 6 basil leaves, chopped
- Serve over hot, cooked pasta – we like rotini and grated parm cheese
- In a medium saucepan, cook onion, carrots and garlic over medium heat until softened, about 5 minutes.
- Add crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, basil and spices to taste. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat to simmer about 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, broil eggplant slices, sprayed with cooking spray or brushed with oil, for 3–4 minutes per side. Allow eggplant to cool slightly and slice into strips. Add to sauce. and cook about 10 minutes more.
- Serve over pasta and top with grated parmesan cheese.
Ok, this looks amazing! Eggplant has always kind of scared me, but this one looks easy!
Oh Meredith this is a piece of cake and sooo good! Try it and let me know what you think!
thanks for the chance
Oh. My. Gosh. Eggplant is my FAVORITE but my husband doesn’t like it! I think this is a way he’ll eat it! Thank you SO much for coming up with this!
Gina, I can’t wait to hear what your husband thinks!!!!
Um, so I definitely just entered this – those tools, especially the garlic prep and store look AMAZING!!!
Yay, thanks Kelsey! Good Luck! Feel free to spread the word about the giveaway!!!
Honestly, this looks fabulous! I can’t wait to try it and get yet another veggie into my veggie loving 4-year-olds body! He’s going to love it!
You just can’t go wrong with eggplant and garlic! There’s a little family restaurant not far from my house that serves the best eggplant parm, and I think I’m going to need to visit them soon! 🙂
Love the recipe and those products look awesome! My family would eat this right up!
Oh my gosh I can’t wait to try this! I have been looking for ways to eat more eggplant and this looks delicious. Looks like I’m making a trip to the store!
This looks really yummy! I am looking forward to trying this. Since I am a big Eggplant Parmesan eater, I know I will enjoy this. Thanks for another great recipe.
Ooh! This looks so tasty! And for your picky eaters, I wonder if they would dig it more if you blended some of it up just for the kids so it had a more typical texture?