1. Bring a saucepan of water to the boil and add pasta. Cook according to packet instructions, or until al dente. Drain, reserving 1 cup pasta water, then rinse and set aside.

2. Dice eggplants into 1cm cubes. Toss with 2 tbsp oil, salt and pepper on a lined oven tray. Spread out and roast for 15-20 minutes, or until tender and slight crispy.

3. Heat 1 tbsp oil from the sun-dried tomato jar in a large frypan over high heat. Cook bacon for 3-4 minutes until crispy, remove from pan and set aside. Keep pan over medium heat.

4. Dice and add onion, crushed garlic and thinly sliced sun-dried tomatoes to pan as you go. Cook for 3-4 minutes, or until softened. Add half the thyme (stripped leaves) and stir in tinned tomatoes. Simmer over medium heat for 5-6 minutes.

5. Add eggplant to sauce once slightly reduced. Pour sauce over pasta along with reserved pasta water to desired consistency (we used 3/4 cup) and season to taste with salt and pepper.

6. Chop bacon, strip remaining thyme leaves and thinly slice snow peas. Scatter over pasta to serve.

Notes:
You can cook eggplant in the frypan instead before using it for bacon and sauce.

Add some chilli flakes to the sauce to add a bit of heat.

No pork option - replacement is turkey.

Gluten friendly option - pasta is replaced with 1 packet GF pasta.

tagliatelle pasta 1 packet (500g)

small eggplants 2

sun-dried tomatoes 1/2 jar
bacon 1 packet

brown onion 1
garlic 3 cloves
crushed tomatoes 400g

snow peas 1/2 punnet
thyme 1/2 packet

From your pantry:
oil (for cooking), salt, pepper