This roasted fairy tail eggplant recipe takes less than 30 min to prepare. It will be on my weeknight dinner rotation until eggplant season is over. This recipe is for 2, but you can easily double it. For 1/2 lb. of eggplant, you can use a half-sheet pan. For 1 lb. you will need a whole sheet pan.*

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Roasted Fairy Tail Eggplant with Feta

September 19, 2021

Servings: 2

Difficulty: Easy

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By: wandercookeat

Ingredients

• 1/2 lb. fairy tail eggplants
• 1-2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 clove garlic
• 2-3 sprigs fresh oregano
• 1/4 c. crumbled feta cheese

Directions

• Step 1 Preheat oven to 400°. Wash eggplant & oregano. Peel the garlic clove. Remove eggplant stems. Slice eggplant in half the long way. Toss eggplant in olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.
• Step 2 Place eggplant on a sheet pan cut side down. Add oregano sprigs and whole garlic clove to the pan with the eggplant. Note: if you want stronger garlic flavor, slice or dice the garlic before adding it to the pan. Leaving it whole gives just a hint of garlic, so it doesn’t overpower the eggplant’s flavor. Roast for 15-20 min at 400°. They are ready when the cut side is golden brown.
• Step 3 Put eggplant in a serving bowl. As you remove the eggplant from the pan, the oregano leaves will come off their stem. Put the oregano leaves in the serving bowl but leave out the stems. Top with crumbled feta cheese and serve. Save the roasted garlic clove for another use.

Instructions with photos

Step 1. Preheat oven to 400°. Wash eggplant & oregano. Peel the garlic clove.
Remove eggplant stems. Slice eggplant in half the long way. Toss eggplant in olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.

Step 2. Place eggplant on a sheet pan cut side down. Add oregano sprigs and whole garlic clove to the pan with the eggplant. Note: if you want stronger garlic flavor, slice or dice the garlic before adding it to the pan. Leaving it whole gives just a hint of garlic, so it doesn’t overpower the eggplant’s flavor. Roast for 15-20 min at 400°. They are ready when the cut side is golden brown.

Step 3.Put eggplant in a serving bowl. As you remove the eggplant from the pan and put them in the bowl, the oregano leaves will come off their stem. Put the oregano leaves in the serving bowl but leave out the stems. Top with crumbled feta cheese and serve. Save the roasted garlic clove for another use.

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Growing up, my grandparents had a huge vegetable garden. When the tomatoes started coming in in the summer, Mom and Big Quin would both make lots of tomato sauce. They froze it so that we had homemade tomato sauce for lasagna and spaghetti sauce all fall and winter. When I got older and attempted Mom’s tomato sauce recipe I ran into two problems:

1.  The recipe starts with 1/2 bushel of tomatoes (28-30 lbs)
2.  This makes a TON of sauce and I don’t have a full size freezer to store it.

Given this I adapted the original recipe to use canned whole tomatoes and I cut the recipe to 1/4 of the original so it only makes about 1 gallon (16 cups) of sauce. Using canned tomatoes also saves a lot of time and effort since the skins have already been removed!!

This tomato sauce is the secret to my Mom’s lasagna and her spaghetti sauce. It is also great with albondigas (meatballs). I’ll post these recipes soon.

1 batch of tomato sauce = 4-5 lasagnas OR 4-5 batches of spaghetti sauce OR 6-7 batches of meatballs

Jump to equipment notes and detailed instructions. See Cook’s Illustrated for recommendations on the best brands of canned tomatoes.

5 from 1 reviews

Mom's Tomato Sauce

September 17, 2020

Servings: about 4 quarts

Difficulty: Easy

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By: wandercookeat

Ingredients

• 4 28oz-cans of whole tomatoes
• 2 medium onions
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1/2 c. fresh parsley
• 2-3 Tbsp. fresh basil
• 2-3 Tbsp. fresh oregano
• 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper

Directions

• Step 1 Coarsely chop the onions, garlic, parsley, basil, and oregano.
• Step 2 In a food processor, add 1 can of tomatoes (including juice) and one quarter of the onions, garlic and herbs. Process for 20-30 sec until tomatoes are blended. Put in large stock pot. Repeat with remaining cans of tomatoes and veggies/herbs.
• Step 3 Add brown sugar, salt, and pepper to the stock pot with the tomatoes, veggies and herbs. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Reduce heat and simmer for about 3 hours, stirring occasionally.
• Step 4 When tomato sauce has reduced to a thick, uniform texture remove from heat and let cool for at least 30 min.
• Step 5 Pour into 3- or 2-cup freezer containers. Freeze until ready to use.

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Equipment Notes

• I like using a food processor to process the tomatoes. However, this does leave the seeds in the sauce. (Once they go through the food processor you hardly notice them.) If you don’t have a food processor, you can use a regular blender or an immersion blender instead. If you use an immersion blender, just be sure to process the tomatoes before they get hot or you risk splattering hot tomato sauce on yourself.
• If you don’t have any of these appliances, don’t fear: You can make this sauce without processing the tomatoes, it will just be chunky instead of smooth. If you are going to take this approach finely chop the onions & herbs and mince the garlic. Break up the tomatoes with your hands as you put them in the pot. When you stir the sauce you can use the spoon to break up and large chunks of tomato.
• If you are a perfectionist and want to get the seeds out of your sauce: Use a food mill instead of the food processor. To use this approach, process the canned tomatoes using the food mill first (before adding the onions, etc.). Put the processed tomatoes in the stock pot. Add the onions, garlic, and herbs to the food processor and add a little of the processed tomatoes to it (for liquid). Process for 20-30 sec until the chunks of onion are the desired size.

Detailed Instructions

Step 1. Coarsely chop the onions, garlic, parsley, basil, and oregano.

Step 2. In a food processor, add 1 can of tomatoes (including juice) and one quarter of the onions, garlic and herbs. Process for 20-30 sec until tomatoes are blended. Put in large stock pot. Repeat with remaining cans of tomatoes and veggies/herbs. This blends up the tomatoes, veggies and herbs to a smooth consistency – no large chunks of tomato or onion.

Step 3. Add brown sugar, salt, and pepper to the stock pot with the tomatoes, veggies and herbs. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Reduce heat and simmer for about 3 hours, stirring occasionally.

Step 4. When tomato sauce has reduced to a thick, uniform texture remove from heat and let cool for 30 minutes or longer. This is so you don’t burn yourself when you pour the sauce into containers for freezing.

Step 5. Pour into 3-cup or 2-cup freezer containers. Freeze until ready to use. For lasagna and spaghetti sauce, I use a 3 c. container. For meatballs I use a 2-cup container.

I confess: as I child I did not like green beans. I was a picky eater, so getting me to eat anything green was a challenge. Fast forward 20 years and I had roasted green beans at a friend’s house for dinner. Of course I had to try them to be polite. I was shocked when I actually liked them. These were not the simmered-for-hours-with-a-ham-hock green beans that I had as a child. They were bright green and crisp. You could eat them like french fries. I was hooked. Now this roasted green bean recipe is one of my go-tos. It is great for a weeknight since they cook in less than 10 min. It is great for a dinner party for the same reason – you can prep the green beans ahead of time and pop the pan in for the green beans to roast while your chicken/pork/steak rests before you serve it.

Note: you can scale this recipe up for a crowd. The amounts shown are for 2 servings. Plan on about 2 oz of beans per person (1/2 lb. for 4 people, 1 lb. for 8 people) and adjust the seasoning to your taste.

PS: The leftovers make a good addition to a salad for lunch.

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5 from 1 reviews

Yummy Roasted Green Beans

June 30, 2020

Servings: 2

Difficulty: Easy

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By: wandercookeat

Ingredients

• 4 oz. green beans/haricot verts
• 1 Tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1/2 tsp. Cavender's Greek Seasoning

Directions

• Step 1 Preheat oven to 400°. Clean green beans.
• Step 2 Toss green beans with olive oil and Greek seasoning. Spread evenly on a rimmed baking sheet.
• Step 3 Roast at 400º for 6-8 min until bright green but starting to brown in spots. Shake pan once halfway through cooking time. Serve warm.

Detailed Instructions

Step 1. Preheat oven to 400°. Clean green beans. Note: I think the french green beans (haricot verts) are best for roasting since they are thinner and more tender. You can still roast the larger American style green beans, but they will take longer to roast since they tend to be fatter.

Step 2. Toss green beans with olive oil and Greek seasoning.  Spread evenly on a rimmed sheet pan. They should be in a single layer. If you are roasting green beans for a crowd, you may need to use 2 sheet pans to give them enough room to roast properly.

Step 3. Roast at 400º for 6-8 min until bright green but starting to brown in spots. If you are roasting green beans for a crowd, it may take a few minutes longer for them to roast. Shake pan once halfway through cooking time to ensure they brown evenly. Serve warm.