A simple and delicious contorno

Contorno means side dish but this can actually be a nice dish on it's own. It's a Sicilian dish so it calls for those round and light purple Sicilian eggplants but the regular ones will do fine. The trick is to know how to select the good ones. The top crown should be green and the body should be shiny and not too hard to the touch. The color should be a uniform purple free from greenish spots.

Once you have your perfect eggplant (a medium size one will do fine) wash and dry with a paper towel. Cut it  in small cubes and fry them in a mixture of corn and regular olive oil. Place in a dish and put aside. In a separate deep skillet, coat the bottom with good EVO and add a clove of garlic coarsely cut up and a few red pepper flakes. Heat on a low flame and when the aroma becomes heavenly, add a third of a can of good diced tomatoes. You may want to dice them a little more before adding them. Cook in medium heat for about ten minutes making sure that there's enough liquid. At this point add the fries eggplants cubes. Stir and add a touch of wine vinegar and season to taste with salt and black pepper. Continue in medium heat for about another.10 minutes. Chop one garlic clove very fine and cut up a few leaves of basil by had, ad to the eggplants, stir an shut off the heat. The plate is ready. The aroma is now intoxicating while the flavor will delight you. This is an economical, nutritious and healthful dish.

Buon appetito