I love eggplant and have incorporated the veggie in many pasta dishes, similar to this recipe I found online. Just a hint for the meat-lovers – you can saute and add ground Italian sausage to the mix and serve it up with freshly crated Parmesan cheese

Ingredients 

• 2 medium eggplants
• 1 ¹/₂ teaspoons salt, plus more as needed
• 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups chopped plum tomatoes or one 14-ounce can crushed tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon fresh oregano, or 1 1/2 teaspoons dry oregano
• 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes, plus extra for finishing
• ¹/₄ cup fresh, chopped basil, plus extra for finishing
• 1 pound linguine pasta  {more}

Although I normally buy ready-made apple dumpling from Trader Joe with every visit, I have found a recipe here which I am going to try over the weekend. 

{photo and recipe source}