Pasta with Eggplant and Olives

Ok, for those not obsessed by pickling, here's a tasty recipe my housemate, Liliana made with the remaining eggplants. Oh and did I mention that she's Italian and loves cooking? Yes, we are lucky here at the Byway. I don't have a picture, but it's basically pasta with a reddish sauce. You will need:

One box of linguine
2-3 small eggplants, diced
2 bell peppers of various colors, diced
One large can of plum tomatoes, diced
One medium onion, diced
1/2 c. kalamata olives (pits removed), and chopped coarsely
3 cloves garlic, minced
An armload of fresh basil, washed and chopped
1/4-1/2 c. grated parmesan cheese + more to taste

Set a pot of water to boil for the pasta, and salt well. Saute the onions for 2 minutes, then add the eggplant and peppers. Cook on medium until eggplant is mostly tender, then add the tomatoes and their liquid and the olives. Continue to cook until the eggplant is completely tender. (Meanwhile, cook the pasta al dente). Add the garlic to the eggplant mixture and cook for one minute. Add the basil and cook one minute more. Heat the sauce until bubbling and add the pasta, stirring and coating. Mix in the cheese and serve.

I'm no 100% sure this is the process she used (I will verify), but this will probably get very similar and tasty results. We had this with grilled chicken and other veggies. The olives are surprisingly mild and compliment the eggplant's flavor.

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Extra Schmaltz!

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