I sort of almost was gifted with a whole box of not so great tomatoes…you know the supermarket round cardboard tasting like kind…..and 8 small eggplants that were firm but were starting to rot near the tops so I either had to trash them or do a bit of work and make something delicious out of them.

To make the tomatoes delicious- they had to be cored and peeled.

Then I cut the tomatoes in thirds. The tomatoes were sprinkled lightly with sea salt and some extra virgin olive oil in half pans. The pans were put in a 225 degree F oven for 8 hours and reduced some.

While the tomatoes were doing their thing in the oven I used my other oven for the eggplants. I usually fry the eggplant for this dish but the eggplant always absorbs a lot of oil so I did the eggplant two ways on the oven to use less oil.

But first I sauté –

2 Tablespoons olive oil

3 green bell peppers – chopped

1 large sweet onion – chopped

5 red jalapeños – almost fine chopped

7 large garlic cloves – fine chopped

1 Tablespoon course sea salt.

I sautéed them till soft.

Next

1 1/2 cup dry white wine – let it reduce – put to the side

6 of the eggplants I cut in cubes and sprinkled with extra virgin olive oil. They went in a 500 degree F oven. I checked on them about every 15 minutes and mixed them up so they could get caramelized all over.

The other 2 eggplants I cut in half long ways and made cross hatch marks on them and also sprinkled them with extra virgin olive oil. They went in the same oven with the other eggplants at 500 degrees F for an hour.

They get scooped out like a mango or avocado. They have a buttery texture and more char taste.

In a pot add  the sautéd vegetables.

Season with –

1/4 cup sugar

1 Tablespoon ground aleppo pepper

1 teaspoon Hungarian sweet pepper

1 Tablespoon ground Urfa Biber Chili pepper

Add the eggplants

At this point the eggplant is very delicious and you just might want to use the eggplant as a bread dip.

 

The tomatoes aren’t done yet so you will put away the eggplant mixture. Tomorrow you finish.

After 8 hours I put the tomatoes away for the next day.

Day two-

I put the tomatoes in a 8 quart pot and cook them down some more on medium low heat for a few hours. These tomatoes are still not the meatiest or have the best flavor so I add two small cans of tomato paste and let the pot go another maybe three hours. Added a small amount of sugar.

Next

I add the eggplant mixture and let it cook together for about an hour.

added a small palm full of dried oregano

and a small palm full of dried basil

At this point it FORKING DELICIOUS so I let it cool on the counter and then put in containers for most to go off to the freezer.

I know most people wouldn’t season the eggplant with Aleppo, Urfa biber and paprika but those ingredients make eggplant shine. My husband normally hates eggplant but when he tasted the sauce he said “That REALLY IS DELICIOUS” If you use better tasting salts and better tasting peppers your food will turn out more delicious! For the next few days my husband kept saying that is really GOOD Norma Sauce.

This kind of sauce is usually served with pasta and Italian cheese but you can serve it however the Fork you want.

Forking Delicious!