Roasted Veggie Pasta Sauce

Eggplant prep: Slice eggplant into 1/4″ slices. Lay out on a cutting board or platter. Sprinkle with salt. Leave for ~10 minutes, turn over, sprinkle with salt. Leave for 10 more minutes, rinse, and dice. This removes the ‘bitter’ taste from the eggplant, mostly.

Preheat oven to 400F. Lightly oil a baking sheet with olive oil. (I use parchment or a silpat to make clean up easier, but it’s not necessary.) Arrange prepared squash and eggplant on the sheet. Put in oven, roast for 20-30 minutes.

Now – While that’s roasting, put a BIG stock pot on the stove over medium-high heat. Dump in the olive oil and onion. Saute for a few minutes, until the onion is clear and soft. Add garlic and herbs (not salt!), saute for another minute or two. If you’re using meat, add it now, cook until browned.

Once the meat is cooked, dump in the cans of tomatoes (don’t drain), olives, capers and mushrooms. Turn down the heat and let this simmer for a while. When the veggies in the oven are done roasting, dump them in.

Let this cook as long as you can stand it, at least 30-45 minutes. Taste, add salt as needed. Add spinach and cook for approximately 10 more minutes.

Serve over any pasta, with or without lots of cheese!

This sauce is great for cleaning out the veggie drawer! I’ve successfully used any combo of the above veggies and parsnip, carrot, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, etc – be creative! It freezes like a dream.