Pasta Alla Norma

I have always been interested in cooking with eggplant, and have more recently been satisfied with the recipes I'm trying with the texture and taste of the eggplant. I saw a cooking show with their recipe for pasta alla norma and thought that it would be a really easy dish to make vegan, and make some changes I thought would be even better. 
I made this pasta last night and all of the prep took me about 30 minutes. Once the prep was done, it was about 15 minutes till i was eating. I began by peeling the eggplant. I cut one into 1/4 inch slices and the other into 1/2 inch cubes. I salted them and put them in a colander to help pull out some of the extra moisture. I then slices the onions and sauteed in a pan with olive oil until translucent, added the garlic, and then added the cubed eggplant and sauteed for about 10 more minutes. I then added the crushed tomatoes and seasoned with Italian seasoning blend from the farmer's market, salt, and pepper. I added 1 tbsp butter substitute to make the sauce a little richer. I left on low/med to simmer.
I boiled the pasta while I pan fried the breaded eggplant (flour, egg substitute wash, then seasoned panko bread crumbs).
Once the pasta was done I tossed the sauce in it, and served with a friend eggplant on top!
YUMMMMY!! The eggplant in the sauce was soft and almost melted into the sauce, and the fried eggplant added a perfect amount of crunch and depth of flavor....definitely making this one again!!!


Pasta Alla Norma:

2 med eggplants
1 1/2 white onion
1 pound pasta
2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp butter substitute ( earth balance)
150g crushed tomatoes
Italian seasoning (or basil/oregeno)
flour
egg substitute (ener-G)
panko bread crumbs with italian seasoning and salt/pepper