Flippin' Flop Eggplant Relish - Recipe Challenge Week 1

Our first flop of the week o' Martha.  This "relish" just didn't do it for me served with pasta.  Perhaps it would've been better as a dip or something.  The relish itself tasted pretty good although I did kind of mess up the roasting step - burned some of the tomatoes to the pan and first undercooked the eggplant and then overcooked it.  We just couldn't win here.

But, I think doing it again, the right way, and serving it in a different manner would be pretty good.  To be honest though, I have no intentions of trying.

Here's how the recipe reads in the event you want to give it a try:

Eggplant-Tomato Relish over Pasta

28 ounces whole peeled tomatoes, crushed
2 unpeeled garlic cloves
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tbsp olive oil
1 eggplant
1/2 small red onion, diced
salt & pepper to taste
1 lb cooked penne
shredded cheese to top

Heat oven to 450.  On rimmed baking sheet (not too large) stir together the tomatoes, garlic, cumin and olive oil.  Put the whole eggplant on top and roast for about 30-40 minutes or until eggplant is tender when pierced.  Let cool.

Transfer eggplant to cutting board, halve and scrape out flesh, discarding as many seeds as possible (this was quite difficult for me).  Roughly chop flesh and place in bowl.  Peel and chop garlic and add to bowl.  Add onion and seaon with salt and pepper.  Mix together.

For this dish, stir into cooked whole wheat pasta and top with shredded cheese.  Recipe called for feta but I only had mozzarella on hand.
Challenge details here.

So, this was not a big hit and since I know Martha can do no wrong in the kitchen, I'm chalking it up to something I did wrong.  Probably with roasting and disecting that damn eggplant.  Later in the week I added a cup of jarred arabiatta sauce to the leftovers and reheated.  Was much better that day.