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. It’s also a one pot wonder dish that takes minutes to prep and the oven does 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 place of the latter. 

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 

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.