Eggplant Spread Chunky

Ingredients:

• Vegetable Oil - 5 tablespoons
• Eggplants - 3
• Bell Peppers - 2
• Onion, chopped - 1
• Garlic cloves - 5
• Celery stalks, chopped - 2
• Carrots, chopped - 2
• Diced Tomatoes - 2 cans
• Sundried Tomatoes, diced - 3
• Salt, to taste - 1 tsp
• Black Pepper, to taste - 1/4 tsp

Steps:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 °F/ 200°C. Wash the eggplants (3) and the bell peppers (2). Dry them. Pierce the eggplant skin in several places. Roast the eggplant and peppers on a baking sheet until soft, 50 to 60 minutes. Remove from the oven, and let cool.
2. Heat the vegetable oil (5 tbsp) in a wide, heavy-based pan and saute the onion (1) for about 10 minutes over medium heat, stirring frequently.
3. Add garlic (5 cloves), carrots (2) and continue cooking for about 5 more minutes.
4. Next, add the celery (2), diced tomatoes (2 cans), sun-dried tomatoes (3) and cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes are broken down into a sauce, 8 to 10 minutes.
5. Next, you will need to seed and peel the roasted peppers, dice them and add them to the pan, stir everything one more time and cook over low heat.
6. Slice eggplants open, and scoop out flesh and let it rest in a bowl for 5 minutes and drain the liquid.
7. Add the eggplant to the pan, season with salt, crushed black pepper, crushed red pepper flakes; bring to a gentle boil, then reduce the heat to low, and simmer, uncovered, for about 15 minutes, stirring frequently. Or cook the vegetables down a bit longer to the point where the vegetables break up and sort of combine everything together.
8. Taste and adjust seasoning; sprinkle basil leaves, parsley or cilantro (if using).