Linguine with Eggplant Ragout

I have wasted far too much time on Pinterest, so instead of pinning, this time I was determined to go through my "Recipes I Must Try" board and find one to actually make.  I stumbled upon this Rachel Ray recipe that I thought would suit both my and the hubs' tastes.  Since we're getting ready to go away for the week, I decided to add some leftover mushrooms I had in the fridge to mine.  (He HATES mushrooms, which makes one of my main, hearty-vegetable, go-to staples a tough one to sneak into recipes.)  I also added turkey meatballs to the hubs' dish and veggie meatballs to mine in order to add some protein to our meal.  Topped it with some fresh parmesan and YUM-O!  A keeper!

Ingredients

• 2 eggplants (about 2 pounds)
• 1 pound linguine pasta
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 14 1/2 ounce can  chopped tomatoes
• Salt and pepper
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh basil

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees . Pierce the eggplants all over, place on a baking sheet and cook until very soft, about 1 hour. Let cool slightly, then cut each eggplant in half and scoop the flesh into a bowl; discard the skin.
2. Meanwhile, in a pot of boiling, salted water, cook the linguine until al dente. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water.
3. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and their juice and cook until the liquid has reduced, about 10 minutes. Stir in the eggplant; heat through. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Add the pasta and basil; toss to coat. Add the reserved pasta cooking water as needed.

Prep - really it was mostly just a matter of cutting up the garlic (can you say, E-A-S-Y?!)

Everything's cookin'!  Eggplant is out of the oven and ready to have it's guts scooped out.

Ragout is finished!