Serves a Crowd

Eggplant and sun dried tomato pasta with ricotta

by:
September  4, 2020
3.6
5 Ratings
Eggplant and sun dried tomato pasta with ricotta
Photo by Anna | Serving Dumplings
  • Prep time 5 minutes
  • Cook time 25 minutes
  • Serves 2
Author Notes

Who can refuse a hot, creamy bowl of pasta, loaded with veggies and cheese?
This pasta with sautéed eggplant and sun dried tomatoes coated with a creamy sauce makes for a satisfying vegetarian dinner, and it can be thrown together in about 20 minutes. A deliciously simple veggie pasta for a perfect weeknight meal.
Ricotta cheese perfectly melts into the tomato sauce and coats every single pasta bite. It’s a fantastic alternative to the tomato sauce classic. It’s minimal. It’s light, loaded with veggies and with just the right balance of flavors and textures.

It is simplicity at its finest: just pasta, a deeply flavored tomato sauce with eggplant and sun dried tomatoes, and a creaminess that cuts the tang of tomato sauce.

This dish can totally stand on its own as a meal. But if you’re looking for something to round this out into a more multi-dimensional meal or impress friends with a full blown dinner party, you could add a salad, grilled chicken, bread… Or sauté the eggplant together with some pork mince or pancetta. —Anna Chwistek | Serving Dumplings

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 250 grams (0.55 pound) pasta
  • 1 eggplant, cut into cubes
  • 220 grams (1 cup) sun dried tomatoes with oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  • sea salt + black pepper
  • 1 shallot, finely chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 250 milliliters (1 cup) pureed tomatoes, or crushed tomatoes
  • 150 grams (5.2 oz) ricotta
  • 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
Directions
  1. Boil the pasta in salted water until al dente. Drain, reserving 1/4 cup of the cooking water.
  2. Heat 5 tbsp oil from the sun dried tomatoes in a skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and shallot, cook until soft and fragrant, about 3 minutes. Stir in the eggplant and the sun dried tomatoes with their remaining oil. Cook for 5 minutes. Add the tomato sauce and bring to a boil, simmer for 5 minutes. Season with chili flakes, paprika, salt and pepper. Stir in the ricotta and pasta. If needed, add a big splash of the reserved cooking water. Stir so everything is well-coated, and cook until heated through and the flavors melt, for about 1 minute. Serve immediately. Enjoy.
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See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • Jimmy Staunton
    Jimmy Staunton
  • Nan Todd
    Nan Todd
  • Anna Chwistek | Serving Dumplings
    Anna Chwistek | Serving Dumplings
  • BB
    BB

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10 Reviews

BB
BB July 8, 2023
This was really tasty and thank you! I followed the recipe but just felt there was something missing in the final result. Capers? Kalamata olives? Curious to hear what others thought. I will do it again and try each of those additions. I did put some grated parmesan on top.
 
kit
kit January 23, 2023
This was delicious, but had not much to do with the recipe, which was pretty weak. Number 1: 1 eggplant cut into cubes. A 2 lb eggplant, a 3/4 lb eggplant, 1/2 " cubes, 2" cubes?
Number 2: My 220 g sundried tomatoes was closer to 2 cups
Number 3: A lot of sauce for 250 grams pasta-- probably 375 grams is more appropriate.
Number 4: If I cooked eggplant cubes (unless they were 1/4-1/2") for 5 minutes plus 5 minutes in sauce they would be way undercooked. I roasted them first.
Number 5: Why not mention finishing with parsley since it's in the picture and adds to the flavor.
I think this was under tested.
 
Jimmy S.
Jimmy S. February 20, 2021
This dish was delicious! Simple ingredients and tastes so good. Substituted a couple of ingredients for similar ones, like tomato paste instead of pasatta and added other greens instead of egg plant. But the end result was so tasty- a family favourite! And tasted so Italian
 
Jimmy S.
Jimmy S. February 20, 2021
I also used minimal amount of oil, and used the pasta water to thin the sauce :)
 
Anna C.
Anna C. February 21, 2021
Sounds amazing! So happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe. Thanks for making it!
 
Nan T.
Nan T. November 25, 2020
Looks good. Too bad the list of ingredients is incomplete. List is small, but instructions call for garlic, shallots, tomato sauce.... where are they listed?
 
Anna C.
Anna C. November 25, 2020
Thanks for noticing! It should all be fixed now! Happy cooking!
 
Christine
Christine October 13, 2021
1/2 tsp of ricotta? Do you mean 1/2 cup? :)
 
Anna C.
Anna C. October 14, 2021
So sorry for the confusion, the recipe is fixed. Hope you love it!
 
Nan T.
Nan T. November 25, 2020
Looks good. Too bad the list of ingredients is incomplete. List is small, but instructions call for garlic, shallots, tomatoes.... where are they listed?