In this post, you’ll find an easy but delightful Italian eggplant pasta sauce recipe. A dish to make when you want to eat something simple, healthy, and packed with Italian flavor and aromas: the delicate bitter of eggplant, the juicy carefulness of tomatoes, the summery and persistent aroma of basil, and the fluid shrouding of olive oil.
Wait for mid-summer or early fall to make this eggplant sauce, when both eggplant and cherry tomatoes are at their peak in flavor. You’ll need fresh basil because it contrasts the eggplant peel’s sharpness and donates fragrance to the tomatoes’ sweetness. Having a plant at hand would be the best.
Italian eggplant pasta sauce
Ingredients
- 2 eggplant 4 if small
- 15-20 cherry tomatoes
- 1 garlic clove
- 7 oz pasta of your choice - 200 gr
- 4-6 basil leaves
- extra virgin olive oil
- salt
Instructions
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Dice the eggplant, place them in a colander and spatter them with a teaspoon of salt.
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Clean and cut the cherry tomatoes in two or four.
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Peel and smash the garlic clove with the blade of a big knife.
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Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a large pan and brown the garlic. Remove it and add the eggplant.
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Cover and cook, medium heat and stirring every now and then, until the eggplant are well cooked - no white parts - and a little crust forms on the surface.
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Transfer them to a bowl, pour another teaspoon of olive oil into the pan, add the tomatoes, sprinkle them with a pinch of salt, cover and cook about ten minutes.
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Bring a big pot of salted water - about 8 cups and two teaspoons of salt - to a boil. Toss in the pasta and cook it according to package directions.
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Cut a few leaves of basil with your hands and sprinkle the tomatoes. Toss in the eggplant and mix, turn off the heat, cover, and set aside.
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Drain the pasta and add it to the pan. Mix well and sauté a minute or so, high heat.
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Serve hot and enjoy your Italian eggplant pasta sauce recipe!
Enjoy your eggplant pasta.
Claudia