Pasta with Eggplant and Tomato

This recipe is from Good and Cheap.

Good and Cheap is a gorgeous cookbook for people with limited income, particularly on a $4/day food stamps budget. The PDF is free (ahora en Español!) and has been downloaded more than 15,000,000 times. I have more cookbooks, too!

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I’m away this week on vacation, but I wanted to keep bringing you some tasty summer meal ideas. Here’s one of my favorite, super simple summer pasta dishes from Good and Cheap: Pasta with eggplant and tomato. It’s mid summer so you should be able to get eggplants for a relatively low cost, and you can either grab a can of tomatoes, or make this with fresh tomatoes if you can afford them. Tomatoes are so sweet and delicious right now! The sauce for this pasta cooks in the time it takes to boil the water and cook the pasta. I made it recently and doubled the recipe and it kept very well in the fridge.

If you are not a huge eggplant fan this is a great place to start cooking with it. You don’t have to do much beyond chopping it, and it softens into a lovely, jammy, rich texture and compliments the tomatoes perfectly.

This is close to a very traditional Italian dish, pasta alla norma, but without anchovies and ricotta salata (a kind of aged ricotta). If you have anchovies, chop them finely and add them with the garlic into the oil and you won’t regret the flavor boost.

Pasta with Eggplant and Tomato

Print Recipe

Pasta tossed in a gooey eggplant and tomato sauce that comes together in the time it takes to boil the water and pasta.

• CourseMain course

Servings

2

Servings 2

Pasta with Eggplant and Tomato Print Recipe Pasta tossed in a gooey eggplant and tomato sauce that comes together in the time it takes to boil the water and pasta. CourseMain course Servings 2 Servings 2

Ingredients

• 1/2 lb pasta (rigatoni or similar)
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 large eggplant cubed
• 4 cloves garlic finely chopped
• 1/2 tsp chile flakes
• 2 cups canned tomatoes finely diced or crushed
• 1/4 cup Romano or Parmesan
• Salt and pepper
• fresh basil finely chopped (optional)

Instructions

1. Put a pot of water on high heat and add a good shake of salt. Bring it to a boil and cook the pasta according to the package instructions.
2. While the water is coming to a boil, splash the olive oil into a wide pan on medium-high heat. Let it get hot. Add the eggplant cubes and sprinkle them with salt, then cook for about 5 minutes. If the eggplant starts to look too dry, add a bit of water. Once the cubes are a little brown on all sides, add the garlic and chile flakes and stir. Add the tomatoes and cook for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Again, if it looks too dry, add a bit of water. Everything will shrink up and become a sort of loose, thick sauce. Add half the cheese and half the basil, if you have it.
3. Once the pasta is cooked, drain it and add it to the saucepan. Toss everything together, then turn off the heat. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve it in bowls sprinkled with more Romano and Basil.