Crumbs on my face (and Roasted Tomato and Eggplant Sauce)

July 26 marked the 7-year anniversary of my first date with my husband. Ben took me to dinner . We ordered steak sandwiches and drank a half dozen beers each. I could really throw them back in those days. We spent the rest of the summer doing pretty much the same thing. It was great. We drank, we ate , we laughed. Nobody can make me laugh harder than Ben.

The first time I cooked dinner for Ben I made scallops. I actually didn’t know if he liked seafood. It was a simple recipe; I dipped them in melted butter, coated them in Ritz cracker crumbs, broiled them in my oven and served them with a wedges of lemon. Classy. Ben loved them, and we still talk about that meal. We've made some great food but we've had some misses. I recall one night when we had been drinking much of the day. I think it was St. Patricks's Day, but I may be making an excuse for the daytime drinking. In any event, we decided not to eat at the bar with our friends. We decided to come back to my apartment to make dinner. Tacos. Disaster. I nearly chopped my own hand off trying to get the pit out of an avocado. I don't think we talked while making or eating dinner. I remember thinking, I need to eat this quick so I can sober up. We passed out immediately after.

Ben and I are suckers for the same kinds of foods. Actually, we are suckers for most food. Though some foods rate higher than others. We both love pasta. We like to eat mountains of it.

After 7 years, I don’t feel embarrassed when I have crumbs on my face or suggest we eat pizza in bed. In the kindest way Ben lets me know about the food on my face and deters me from eating in our bed.

I created this recipe on a whim after I bought too many tomatoes over the weekend. And Ben and I had not had a pasta feast in quite some time. This recipe is under ten ingredients. Isn't that fabulous? I thought you'd think so.

Roasted Tomato and Eggplant Sauce

Preheat oven to 375

2 tablespoons olive oil

4-5 garlic cloves, finely minced.

5 medium to large ripe tomatoes (seeded, and chopped into half inch pieces)

2 medium eggplants (peeled and cut up into half inch pieces)

1 ½ teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

½ teaspoon red pepper flake

In dutch oven heat up two tablespoons of olive oil, and cook garlic for a minute or two, careful not to burn it. Add eggplant, tomatoes, salt, pepper and red pepper flake. Cook for another few minutes while stirring the vegetables.

Place in hot oven for 25 minutes, covered. Take out of oven to stir and break up tomatoes and eggplant. Cook for another 25 minutes. At this point the tomatoes and eggplant will be very soft. Stir until the sauce is cohesive.

Toss with 1 lb of al dente rigatoni (or whatever pasta you like best). Stir in 2 tablespoons of freshly chopped parsley and ¼ cup Parmesan cheese.

The eggplant adds a meaty depth to the sauce.