Pasta with Eggplant, Tomatoes and Mozzarella Recipe
A hearty pasta in the style of homely Italian cooking: tender eggplant, a simple tomato sauce and stretchy mozzarella. The dish is a bit like a cross between pasta and a vegetable bake – perfect for a family dinner when you want something comforting but still packed with vegetables.
The dish loosely refers to Sicilian pasta alla Norma, where eggplant is combined with tomatoes, basil and cheese. In this home version, mozzarella replaces traditional ricotta salata, giving a more familiar, stretchy, melty effect.
This pasta gives you the feeling of a rich baked casserole, yet it comes together in the time it takes to make a classic pasta with sauce. Thanks to the eggplant the dish is as filling as a meat-based one, while staying completely meat-free. It’s ideal when you want Italian-style comfort food without multi-step baking.
Why this version works
- Salting and thoroughly drying the eggplant reduces bitterness and lets it brown properly.
- Frying the eggplant separately gives it a deep flavor and a soft but not mushy texture.
- Adding the pasta al dente directly to the sauce lets it soak up flavor without overcooking.
- Mozzarella goes into the pan at the very end, so it melts into strands instead of a hard lump.
Chef's tips
Use a really large pan for the eggplant; if it sits in two layers, it will soak up the fat and turn soggy instead of browning. If the sauce seems too acidic, add a pinch of sugar or 2–3 tablespoons of pasta cooking water, which will round it out and slightly thicken it. After adding the mozzarella, fold from the bottom with a wide spatula so you keep long strands of cheese instead of tiny, torn pieces.
How to serve
Serve in a large bowl in the middle of the table so everyone can scoop a portion with stretchy cheese. Put a simple arugula or mixed-leaf salad with balsamic vinegar next to it to freshen the plate. It’s a great dish for a family lunch or movie night – it also tastes good when it has cooled down a bit.
Watch out for
- Don’t put wet eggplant in the pan – it will start to stew and turn spongy.
- Don’t cook the pasta until fully soft, because after a moment in the sauce it will end up overcooked.
- If you add the mozzarella over too high a heat, the cheese can seize and turn rubbery.
Substitutions
- You can replace ball mozzarella with block mozzarella or scamorza; the flavor will be a bit more pronounced.
- Swap part of the eggplant for zucchini, adding it later, as it softens more quickly.
- You can replace canned tomatoes with passata if you prefer a smooth sauce without chunks.
Ingredients
- pasta - 350 g
- eggplant - 1 large piece
- canned chopped tomatoes - 400 g
- cheese - 200 g
- onion - 1 piece
- garlic - 2 cloves
- olive oil - 4 tablespoons
- dried oregano - 1 teaspoon
- fresh basil or parsley - 0.5 handfuls
- salt
- freshly ground black pepper
Preparation
- Wash the eggplant, trim the ends and cut into cubes of about 1.5 cm. Transfer to a bowl, lightly salt, toss and set aside for 10 minutes, until small beads of juice appear on the surface of the cubes.
- Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil as for classic pasta. Add the pasta and cook until clearly al dente – springy in the center when bitten. Drain, reserving about half a cup of cooking water.
- Rinse the salt off the eggplant under running water, then dry it very thoroughly with paper towels until the cubes are no longer wet and dull. Wet eggplant will start to stew instead of browning and will turn spongy.
- Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large, wide pan over medium-high heat. Add the eggplant and fry for 8–10 minutes, stirring often, until it softens and browns evenly with slightly browned edges. Transfer to a plate.
- In the same pan, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add the finely chopped onion and fry for 4–5 minutes over medium heat, until translucent and lightly golden at the edges but not dark brown. Add the chopped garlic and fry for about 30 seconds until very fragrant.
- Pour in the canned tomatoes, add the oregano and a pinch of salt and pepper, stir and bring to a gentle simmer. Cook the sauce over low heat for about 10 minutes, until it slightly thickens and loses its raw, sharp acidity; it should coat the spoon evenly.
- Add the fried eggplant to the sauce, gently stir and cook together for 3–4 minutes. Taste and, if needed, season with more salt, pepper or a pinch of sugar if the sauce is still too acidic.
- Add the cooked pasta to the pan with the sauce. Mix thoroughly, adding the reserved pasta water a tablespoon at a time until the sauce starts to coat every piece in a creamy layer, with no watery puddle on the bottom and no dry patches.
- Drain the mozzarella, pat it dry and cut into small cubes. Take the pan off high heat, leave it on medium or switch the flame off, add the cheese and gently stir for 20–30 seconds, until the mozzarella starts to melt and pull into strands but doesn’t turn into one rubbery lump.
- Serve immediately, sprinkled with torn basil leaves or chopped parsley. On the plate the pasta should be juicy, with visible pieces of eggplant and strands of cheese stretching between the fork and the portion.
Storage
Once chilled, the sauce thickens and the mozzarella firms up, so the dish becomes more compact. Reheat in a pan with a few tablespoons of water or in the microwave, stirring until the sauce loosens again and the cheese turns soft and stretchy.
I most often make this pasta when there’s one eggplant and an opened ball of mozzarella left in the fridge after a weekend pizza. Sometimes I transfer everything to a baking dish, sprinkle with extra cheese and give it a quick bake when people at home are coming back at different times.
