Vegetarian Aubergine and Cherry Tomato Orecchiette Pasta Recipe.

I think Aubergine has to be my favorite vegetable… or tomatoes…. no aubergine…. but never fear (not that my indecision should make you fearful), this dish includes both, who evens knows if a tomato is a vegetable anyway.

This dish reminds me of summer lunches spent in Italy. It works perfectly when sitting outside in the sun with perhaps a side salad and crusty bread to mop up the sauce, as well as cold winters night with a big comforting portion, paired with a large glass of red wine.

Many of you may not have heard or Orecchiette, which is simply the name for a shape of pasta. It’s typical to the southern region of Puglia in Italy so isn’t found on our supermarket shelves too often (I buy it online because I love it, often if you have a local Italian deli, they will stock it) but don’t worry if you haven’t frequented the streets of Puglia recently you can make this recipe with any shaped pasta. I do however recommend a small shell shaped pasta still because the sauce and aubergine sticks to this shape nicely and it really makes the dish.

I prefer to make this with fresh cherry tomatoes but depending on the season or what I’ve got in the pantry it can also be made with tinned cherry tomatoes which is what I did this particular time. It’s not long until the sweet little tommy’s with be growing the garden making this dish all the sweeter. It was still scrummy made with a tin or two.

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Vegan Aubergine Pasta.

Recipes feeds 2/3 people.

1 Aubergine.

1 Tin of cherry tomatoes or a punnet of cherry tomatoes.

1 Chili, Optional.

2 Cloves of Garlic.

1 Glass of White Wine.

1 teaspoon or veg stock. I use Bouillon.

Olive Oil.

A squeeze of Lemon.

A handful parsley, also optional.

Pasta of your choice. If you can get your hands on Orecchiette I highly recommend it for this dish,

Method.

Chop aubergine into small cubes, roughly 2cm. Fry in Oil Olive until it is starting to brown. Add chopped garlic and chili, fry for another minute or so. Add a small glass of white wine and a tea spoon of veg stock, let the wine cook off.

Chop cherry tomatoes in halves, add to mix (or tin of cherry tomatoes) and let it cook down for 5 minutes. I try not to stir to much at the stage to avoid the tomatoes and aubergine breaking up too much. I like it to be a chunky sauce.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

I’ve got parsley growing in the garden at the moment so like to add a handful of this at the last minute but this is personal preference.

Cook pasta. I like to add a little of the starchy water from the cooking pasta to the sauce to make it go a little further and it gives the sauce a nice silky texture. Note I do this more if I’m cooking with fresh tomatoes to give more of a sauce, if using tinned tomatoes it’s not as necessary.

Add cooked pasta to sauce and mix so the sauce completely coats the pasta.

Serve with a generous amount of Parmesan for the none vegans/veggies.

And enjoy.

Hannah xx