Turkish Eggplant Pasta

(Patlicanli Makarna)

2 servings of mini bow tie pasta
1 tbsp butter or extra virgin olive oil

1 medium eggplant
2 cups water with 1 tbsp salt
1/2 cup sunflower oil -for frying

Tomato Sauce:
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
6 heaping tbsp of diced tomato
2 heaping tbsp of crushed tomato, canned
1/2 red Bell pepper, cut in bite size
Salt

Peel the eggplant in lengthwise strips. Cut into large chunks. Soak in 2 cups of water with salt for about 20 minutes. Place sunflower oil in a medium sized skillet. Squeeze the eggplants with your hand and dry them with paper towel. When the oil heats up, fry the eggplants on both sides until golden brown. Afterwards, place on a paper towel to soak up any extra oil.

Boil the pasta with salty water following the instructions on the package, drain. Melt the butter in a pot. Toss the pasta and salt in it.

Meanwhile, combine all the tomato sauce ingredients in a small pot. Cook on medium heat for about 10 minutes with the lid on. Make sure it doesn't dry out. Turn the heat off, throw the eggplants in it, stir.

Place in a serving dish. Pour the cooked tomato sauce all over. Serve it with Turkish Bread on the side.

Makes 2 servings.