There’s nothing better than a quick and healthy pasta dish that can be made in under 30 minutes and is also perfect for meal prep! This smoky aubergine pasta tastes great and only requires a few store cupboard ingredients to make!
Smoky Aubergine Pasta in 30 Minutes
This smoky aubergine pasta takes next to no time to make! The aubergine can be roasted while you prepare the rest of the tomato sauce and pasta! The tomato sauce only requires a few basic ingredients, including onions, garlic, chilli and a red pepper. Tomato purée and passata form the base of the sauce, and it is also flavoured with chopped basil stalks and smoked paprika!
The pasta can be cooked while the sauce is simmering away. Make sure to check out my Cooking Basics post to learn some tips and tricks on how to cook pasta perfectly! Using some of the starchy pasta water to mix into the sauce doesn’t only help bind and thicken the sauce, but also stretches it a little and adds some additional flavour to the sauce as well!
How to prepare this recipe for Meal Prep?
I often double the recipe I’m making so that I can put it into Tupperware and keep in the fridge or freezer for lunches during the week! Often pasta isn’t great for meal prep, as I find it goes quite mushy once you reheat it in the microwave. However, if you don’t cook the pasta completely but stop it cooking 2-3 minutes earlier, it’ll be perfectly cooked and still have some bite to it once reheated in the microwave! Easy peasy lemon squeezy!
This Smoky Aubergine Pasta recipe can be kept in the fridge for 1 or 2 days before re-heating, and keeps well in the freezer for a few weeks!
More Easy and Delicious Pasta Recipes
We all love a delicious and easy pasta recipe, and I have a lot of different ones on my blog. I have listed a few of my favourites below, so don’t forget to check those out, too!
- Creamy Chicken and Pesto Pasta
- Spaghetti with a Tomato and Meatball Sauce | Lady and the Tramp
- Butternut Squash and Tomato Tagliatelle
- Pasta with Cheese Sauce and Crispy Bacon
- Spaghetti Alioli (Aglio e Olio) | Family Favourite
- Smoky Tomato Sauce with Spaghetti
- Pasta with Spinach Sauce and Salmon
- Creamy Hummus Linguine
- Fingal’s Butternut Squash Pasta
- Easy Lasagne Recipe
- Spaghetti Pesto with Feta Cheese
Smoky Aubergine Pasta | Easy Healthy Cooking
Recipe
Ingredients (serves 2, easily doubled):
- 1 large aubergine
- A little olive oil
- 1 red onion, finely sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 small red chilli, finely sliced
- 1 red pepper, cubed
- Small bunch fresh basil, leaves picked off and stems finely chopped
- 1 tbsp tomato purée
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 500g (1 pack) tomato passata
- 150g pasta shells (or any other pasta shape)
- Parmesan cheese, grated, to serve (optional)
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 200°C and line a baking tray with tinfoil.
- Cut the aubergine into large cubes and place it on the prepared baking tray. Drizzle over some olive oil and toss the aubergine in it until coated. Roast the aubergine in the preheated oven for around 20 minutes until soft.
- In the meantime, prepare all the ingredients for the pasta sauce and then heat the olive oil in a large frying pan.
- Add the onion to the pan and fry gently for 5-7 minutes until softened. Add the garlic, chili and chopped basil stalks and cook for a further 1-2 minutes.
- Next, add the tomato purée and spices and stir into the onion mix until fully coated. Then add in the chopped pepper.
- Finally, add the tomato passata to the pan, mix well and reduce to a simmer.
- While the sauce is cooking, add the pasta to a pot of boiling water and cook according to packet instructions (around 8-12 minutes). Near the end of the cooking time, add some of the pasta water to the tomato sauce mixture to flavour it and thin it out a bit.
- Remove the roasted aubergine from the oven and stir it through the pasta sauce.
- Drain the pasta in a colander and reserve some of the cooking water in case you need some more for the sauce.
- Spoon the smoky aubergine tomato sauce over the pasta and scatter over the fresh basil leaves to serve.
