Meat Sauce with Eggplants for Pasta

Prepare all the ingredients. The amount of vegetables and minced meat can be varied according to your preference. You can use any type of minced meat: pork, chicken, turkey, beef, or a mixture. However, keep in mind that beef takes longer to cook than pork, and chicken will be done as soon as the meat is no longer pink. Tomato paste can vary greatly in taste, so if the paste is sour, you may need to add sugar to the sauce, usually 1 tablespoon is enough. Instead of tomato paste, you can use tomatoes in their own juice (300-400 ml), in which case you may need less water for the sauce. For a more flavorful taste, you can add oregano or a sprig of basil to the sauce for serving. Use sunflower or olive oil for frying.

Thoroughly wash all the vegetables. Young zucchini and courgettes do not need to be peeled. Trim the stems, remove the inner part with the seeds from the pepper. Cut the zucchini and eggplant into elongated cubes, the pepper into small slices, and finely chop the onion and garlic.

Preheat a large frying pan with 4 tablespoons of vegetable oil. Fry the eggplants for about 6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until almost cooked. Season with a little salt and pepper. Remove the fried eggplants to a bowl.

Heat a frying pan with 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil, add onions, garlic, zucchini, and bell pepper. Sauté the vegetables for about 7-10 minutes until tender, stirring occasionally.

Bring water to a boil for pasta or other side dish. Push the vegetables to the edges of the pan and add the ground meat. Break up the ground meat with a spatula to cook it quickly and prevent it from becoming a solid patty. Mix the broken up meat with the vegetables and cook until almost done (different types of meat require different cooking times). Season with salt and pepper.

Cook pasta or other side dish in boiling salted water. Cooking time can be determined by following the instructions on the package, usually between 4 and 12 minutes.

Return the eggplants to the frying pan, mix them with the other ingredients, and add tomato paste. Dilute the thick tomato paste with boiling water or hot pasta water (there should be a lot of sauce, you can add 150-250 ml). Stir the sauce. Simmer for a few minutes and taste it. Season with salt and pepper, and if the sauce is too acidic due to the tomato paste, you can add sugar. Reduce the heat and simmer the sauce until desired consistency, adding more water if it becomes too thick. The finished sauce can be served immediately with the side dish. The sauce can be stored in the refrigerator for 3-4 days, and can be used with various side dishes.