pasta in a dish with eggplant, mushrooms and bacon

Thanks to "Dana Treat Yourself" for this recipe

Delicious
Easy
Now I have dinner for the next four days
I had no wine for my tomato sauce so I used some beer - quite a tasty substitution

1 eggplant, chopped into 1.5cm cubes
4 rashers of bacon, chopped into batons
1 onion, roughly chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 bag of button mushrooms - between 8-10
1 quantity of tomato sauce or your own favourite tomato pasta sauce
1 cup ricotta cheese

2 eggs

3/4 cup milk

Parmesan cheese

Penne pasta

In a non-stick frying pan saute the eggplant until lightly golden and nice and soft. Remove to a plate.
In the same pan saute the bacon until nice and crispy. Turn down the heat and add the onion. Cook until soft. Add the garlic and cook for a minute longer. Add the mushrooms and cook until soft. Add 1tsp chopped thyme and 1tbsp chopped basil. Season well with salt and pepper. Remove to a plate.

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Cook the pasta in plenty of salted water until al dente. Mix the pasta with the tomato sauce until coated. Pour into a lasagne dish. Layer mushrooms and eggplant on top. Cover with any remaining tomato sauce. Sprinkle with a layer of grated parmesan cheese.

In a bowl mix together the ricotta cheese, egg and milk and 1/2 cup grated parmesan.. Season well with salt and pepper. Pour over the pasta mix. Top with extra grated parmesan. Place in the oven and cook for 20-30 mins or until golden on top.

It can be refrigerated before cooking or after cooking and reheated in the oven.

Tomato Sauce
1 brown onion, roughly chopped
2 cloves of garlic, sliced
Stems from a handful of basil, chopped
1 tbsp tomato paste
A good glug of beer
400g can chopped tomatoes
Leaves from three sprigs of thyme
Large handful basil leaves, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Gently saute the onion until soft. Add the garlic and basil stalks and cook until soft and delicious. Season with salt and pepper. Add the tomato paste and saute for 1-2 mins until fragrant. Stir in the beer and then reduce slightly. Add the tomatoes and cook for 20-30 mins or until beautiful and reduced and yummy. At the last minute stir in the basil leaves and season again with salt and pepper.