Spaghetti Sauce

Hi all, my name's Megan, and Em and I used to work together (and drink together and bitch together, etc, etc). She got me started on the South Beach diet, and while we have both moved on to less restrictive plans, I still have some staple recipes from SB that I really enjoy. The one I am sharing is my favorite. It is really versatile, freezes well and is good on just about anything. I was shocked when I had regular jarred spaghetti sauce after having this - it tasted super-sweet and salty, not in a good way. This recipe is also a good use of eggplant, something that I always buy and then struggle to use. I have tweaked it a bit for taste and texture. Feel free to play it fast and loose with the measurements. As you will probably notice, I hate to measure things and prefer to just estimate. Why dirty any more dishes than you absolutely must?

I frequently double or triple this recipe and freeze it in 2-3 portion containers.

1 eggplant, cut lengthwise into slices

1 tbs olive oil

1 onion, chopped

cloves of garlic, minced (calls for 1, I usually use several)

1 can (28 ounces) plum tomatoes

2 tbs tomato paste

2 tbs chopped fresh basil (or use trader joes frozen cubes -both garlic and basil are great to keep on hand - very close to as good as fresh)

Coat eggplant slices with olive oil cooking spray, place on a broiler safe pan, and broil in the oven, flipping once, until both sides are browned. Remove from the oven, let cool, and then chop roughly.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a large saucepan (I need to get a bigger one so I can make triple or quadruple this recipe). Add onion and garlic, stir frequently and cook until tender (4 or so minutes). Add tomatoes, tomato paste (I usually just use the whole small can - what are you going to do with the leftovers?), and basil. Allow to boil and then reduce heat to low and let simmer for a long time. Add eggplant once it has cooled and been chopped. The recipe I have only calls for a total cooking time of 25 or some minutes, but I like to let it cook longer to really combine the ingredients. When you run out of time, let the sauce cool a bit and then process in batches in the blender or food processor until it gets to a sauce-like consistency. I like it a little chunky.

One note of caution, because there are no binders or additives, the sauce does tend to separate, so this doesn't always make the prettiest dishes. However, it is really delicious IMHO.