Eggplant and Fresh Tomato Pasta
sandravalvassori.com
This Roasted Eggplant Pasta is a celebration of late-summer produce. A light, and bright-tasting eggplant-tomato sauce cloaks al dente pasta to make the most delicious vegetarian meal.
Servings: 4 to 6
Ingredients
- 1 3/4-2 pounds pounds globe eggplant (about 2 medium) cut into 1-inch cubes
- 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
- Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
- 1 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes (any color or variety will work)
- 2 very ripe large tomatoes
- 1/2 medium onion, diced
- 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, or more to taste (optional)
- 12 ounces pasta such as rigatoni, ziti, paccheri, canneroni, or any short, tubular shape
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves, plus more for serving
- grated Parmesan cheese, for serving
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425ºF. Place cubed eggplant on a large, rimmed sheet pan and drizzle with 3 tablespoons olive oil. Toss, and spread the eggplant in an even layer (use two sheet pans, if possible). Season with salt and pepper to taste and roast for 25 - 30 minutes until golden, tossing half way through.
- About 15 minutes before the eggplant has finished roasting, place cherry tomatoes on a small sheet pan and drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Roast until just starting to burst, about 10-12 minutes. Set aside.
- While the vegetables roast, make the tomato sauce. Cut a thin piece off the bottom of each tomato—the side opposite the stem. Starting at the cut end, grate each tomato on the largest holes of your box grater into a medium mixing bowl. Stop grating just before you reach the skin. Set aside. (Alternatively, you can roughly chop the tomatoes and blend just a few seconds until smooth but still pulpy.)
- In a large skillet or frying pan, heat remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Cook the onion until slightly soft and translucent, about 3-4 minutes. Add the garlic and chili flakes, if using; cook for 30 more seconds.
- Add the grated tomatoes to the onion mixture and season with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Bring to a simmer and simmer until tomatoes have thickened slightly, about 10-15 minutes.
- Once the eggplant is ready, add it to the skillet along with the roasted cherry tomatoes. Reduce heat to very low while you cook the pasta.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta until very al dente, about 2 minutes less than the package instructs. Save 1 cup of pasta water and drain the rest.
- Add the cooked pasta along with 1/2 cup of pasta water to the skillet and increase heat to medium. It will seem like a lot of pasta water but the eggplant will soak most of it up. Let it gently bubble away, stirring often until the sauce has thickened and the pasta is perfectly cooked, about 2-3 minutes. If the sauce looks dry, add more splashes of pasta water, as needed. Remove from heat and add the chopped basil. Taste, and add more salt and/or pepper, if needed.
- Serve pasta drizzled with a little more olive oil, chopped basil, and a generous dusting of cheese.
Notes
- Undercook the pasta. The success of this pasta dish will rely on perfectly cooked pasta. The past will finish cooking in the sauce so you will want to cook it 2-3 minutes less than what the package instructions call for.
- Generously salt the pasta water. Most dry pasta is made without salt so salting the water it will cook in, is the only chance you'll get to season the pasta. It will make a huge difference in flavor to the finished dish so make sure you salt the water generously. For a large pot of water, I use two tablespoons of Diamond Crystal Kosher salt. If using table salt, you can reduce this by half.
- Save some pasta water. The starchy pasta water is an essential ingredient for this sauce. Without it, the dish will be too dry so make sure you scoop out the water before you drain it.
- Short cuts: If you’re short on time, you can use a good quality store-bought marinara sauce instead of fresh tomatoes. Just make sure to still add the roasted cherry tomatoes which contribute a lot of sweet, fresh flavor to the dish.
- Make-ahead option: If you'd like, you can prepare the sauce and roast the eggplant and cherry tomatoes one day in advance. Store each component separately in the fridge.
- Leftovers & Storage: Though best eaten right away, leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.