Pasta with Roasted Garlic and Eggplant

This week, Whitney and I picked out eggplant and cherry tomatoes for our CSA box, which led us to choose this recipe from our Williams-Sonoma pasta cookbook. The yellow cherry tomatoes were very tasty, and on the whole, this was a delicious, nutritious veggie pasta dish.

2 small eggplants (1.5 lb), cut crosswise into 1/2 in. slices
Olive oil
1 head garlic
1 lb cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup fresh basil
1 lb medium-sized pasta (we used rotini)
3 oz fresh mozzarella, cut into small pieces

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Brush both sides of eggplant slices with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Cut garlic head in half crosswise and drizzle both halves with olive oil. Place garlic and eggplant slices on baking sheet, making sure eggplant slices are not touching. Roast until eggplant is browned, 20-25 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. Continue to roast garlic until soft and fragrant, about 20 minutes longer. Cut eggplant slices into small pieces.

"No, this isn't right."

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Squeeze garlic pulp from cloves. In a large serving bowl, combine garlic with 4 tbsp oil, mashing and blending well. Stir in tomatoes, basil, 1/2 tsp salt, and pepper to taste. Meanwhile, add 2 tbsp salt and pasta to the water. Cook until al dente and drain, reserving 1/2 cup pasta water. Add pasta to sauce along with eggplant and mozzarella. Toss to combine, and add pasta water as needed to loosen sauce.

We love colorful dishes!