Simple Pasta with Eggplant and Tomatoes
A light pasta with cherry tomatoes and eggplant. Perfect for a quick Italian vegetarian meal.
Servings: 4 servings
Calories: 383kcal
Cost: $10
Equipment
- 1 large pot
- 1 large saucepan
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 eggplant, chopped into ½ inch pieces
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- ½ cup white wine
- 1 handful basil leaves
- ½ cup pasta water
- ½ lb penne or rigatoni
Instructions
- Chop the eggplant and place it in a bowl. Sprinkle the eggplant with salt and let it sit for 10 minutes. Pat dry with a paper towel.
- In a large saucepan, heat 3 tablespoon of olive oil to medium heat. Once hot, place your eggplant in the pan and fry. Let the eggplant sit undisturbed for 4 minutes before stirring. Brown the eggplant on all sides, frying for about 10 minutes total. Remove the eggplant and set it aside.
- Bring a pot of water to a boil. Salt the water well when it reaches a boil and add your pasta of choice. Make sure to save 1 cup of pasta water.
- In a large pan, heat 2 tablespoon of olive oil to medium heat. Add the garlic and saute for one minute. Add in the black and crushed red pepper. Then stir in the halved cherry tomatoes and 1 teaspoon of salt. Stir well and let the tomatoes break down for 3-5 minutes.
- Pour in the white wine and simmer until the white wine reduces by about half. The sauce should begin to thicken. You'll notice little bubbles in the sauce. Stir in the basil and add the pasta water. Continue to simmer.
- Stir in the eggplant. Mix well until everything is completely combined. Let the sauce simmer for 5 minutes. Add in the pasta and combine well. If there isn't enough sauce, slowly add more pasta water.
- Serve with parmesan cheese!
Notes
- Let the tomatoes break down on their own. Let the skins soften before trying to break them all open. I always use cherry tomatoes. I find they break down a lot easier than grape tomatoes.
- The eggplant will soak up a lot of the oil at first. Let them sit for a while, and they will start to let some of it back out as they fry. Add more oil if the eggplant isn't browning and it's just getting "spotted" with brown dots.
- You have to use the pasta water to get the sauce to coat the pasta. This light sauce really needs the extra starch to thicken up.
Nutrition
Calories: 383kcal | Carbohydrates: 45g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 13g | Sodium: 1470mg | Potassium: 238mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 283IU | Vitamin C: 10mg | Calcium: 27mg | Iron: 1mg
