August 25, 2024

Tomato & Aubergine Baked Pasta

Taken from a recent Ottolenghi recipe, this is a sublime and decadent rich tomato pasta recipe – using a sizeable amount of butter, but feel free to reduce the amount!. It’s also a one pot wonder dish that takes minutes to prep with the oven doing all the work. 

As we have so many Growing Local tomatoes right now I used both cherry tomatoes and beef tomatoes, but you could use tinned in their place. Delicious also made with courgettes and peppers to replace the aubergine – or a mixture of all three. 

Serves 4.

Ingredients

1 very large aubergine or two smaller ones, quartered lengthways, then each quarter cut in half widthways – if using a very large aubergine you may need to cut in more than quarters

Olive oil

Salt & pepper

350g cherry tomatoes, halved

400g tin chopped tomatoes, or 400g fresh chopped tomatoes

2 tablespoons tomato puree

20g basil leaves, roughly torn or chopped, plus a few extra leaves for serving

4 garlic cloves, finely sliced

1 red chilli, sliced in half lengthways, optional

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon sugar

100g butter, cut into 2 cm cubes – use less if you wish! 

250g dried pasta

Grated Parmesan to serve

Method

      1. Heat the oven to 220c or 200c fan. 
      2. Place the aubergines slices in the bottom of a large ovenproof pan which you have a lid for. Add a large splash of olive oil, a teaspoon of salt and a large pinch of pepper. Toss the aubergines in the oil and roast for 30 minutes until a little golden and starting to catch. 
      3. Add all the remaining ingredients apart from the Parmesan and 400ml of just boiled water. Stir in a teaspoon of salt and a large pinch of pepper. 
      4. Cover with the lid and bake for 30 minutes. After this give everything a good stir and cook uncovered for another 10 – 15 minutes until the sauce clings to the pasta and is starting to catch in places. 
      5. Serve with Parmesan and a few torn basil leaves.