Healthy Penne

I got the inspiration for this recipe from here:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/sicilian-penne-with-swordfish-and-eggplant-recipe/index.html
However, I don't cook with wine and I didn't want to purchase swordfish, so I altered it.

1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 pound whole wheat penne pasta
3 garlic cloaves, minced
1/2 tsp red chili flakes (this much was not hot at all, add more if you like it hot)
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley, plus 1/3 cup
Half a large or one small eggplant cut into bite size pieces
1 cup cherry tomatoes
Snow peas
Marinara sauce (My favorite is Emerils Homestyle Marinara)
Meatballs (Use your favorite recipe)
I mixed, 1/2 pound of ground beef with minced garlic, onion, salt and pepper and some Worcestershire sauce. It was good but I still need to experiment for better tasting meatballs.

I recommend roasting the tomatoes and eggplant in the oven, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with salt and pepper. Eggplant absorbs the oil super fast if you are going to do this in a pan and you will find yourself using way too much oil.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain pasta.

In a large skillet, heat oil. Add garlic, chili flakes and parsley. Add roasted tomatoes, eggplant, snow peas and meatballs. Stir and cover and let everything warm through until snow peas are tender. Add remaining parsley last few minutes of cooking.

Transfer to a large serving bowl and combine pasta with vegetable mixture.
I heat the marinara sauce and add a touch of half&half and pour over the pasta and finish off with a generous amount of Parmesan cheese. Toss everything together and serve.
This dish is full of flavor and so heart healthy.
I like to serve this with a good loaf of grain bread.

Makes 4-6 generous portions.