Fresh Eggplant Parmesan Pasta
I love eggplant parmesan, it is so delicious but honestly, it is a ton of work and it is super heavy. We are in that transition period, between Summer and Fall, so we have some cool days mixed in with the hot days. So traditional eggplant parm is not the best sounding right now, which means I wanted to make a fresh version. This pasta is simple, fresh, and delicious. It takes a little time, just to prepare the eggplant, eggplant can be squishy and weird with how much water they have. It is a simple process, just sprinkle with salt and put in a colander to drain.
We roast the eggplant and tomatoes, perfect to make those end of summer tomatoes shine. Then you just toss with oil, salt, pepper, pasta, and little mozzarella cheese balls. So yummy and you can totally swap those pasta noodles for some zucchini noodles for a low carb alternative. My vegans can use some dollops of plant-based ricotta in place of the mozzarella for a delicious swap.
Fresh Eggplant Parmesan Pasta
1 eggplant, peeled and cubed
1 teaspoon salt + more to taste
1 pound cherry tomatoes
1 pound pasta
8 oz mini mozzarella balls
fresh basil
oil
pepper to taste
- Preheat the oven to 400
- Place the eggplant cubes in a colander and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of salt and let sit for 30 minutes to drain. Then rinse off the salt and pat dry.
- Arrange the eggplant on a parchment lined baking sheet and drizzle with oil and sprinkle some pepper. On another parchment lined pan, toss the tomatoes with oil and a sprinkle of salt and pepper.
- Roast both the eggplant and tomatoes for 20 minutes. Toss the eggplant and remove the tomatoes. Roast the eggplant for an additional 10-20 minutes.
- While the vegetables roast, boil the pasta until al dente. Drain and drizzle with oil.
- Toss the eggplant and tomatoes with the pasta, adding in the basil and cheese. Serve!
I love how simple and fresh this pasta is!
Eggplant can get squishy and weird if you don’t drain it of some of it’s water. You just peel the eggplant and cube it up, drop it in a colander and toss with salt. The salt draws out the excess water.
Once it has drained, rinse it to get off all that salt, then make sure you dry it very well with paper towels.
Get that eggplant and those vibrant tomatoes ready for the oven roasting. A little oil, salt, and pepper is all you need and they can be in the oven at the same time!
Once they are all roasted, toss those vegetables with the pasta! Drop in that cheese and basil and you have a beautiful dinner.
