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This baked eggplant pasta is an easy weeknight dinner packed with tender chunks of eggplant and penne pasta with juicy tomatoes and melty ricotta and mozzarella cheese. Everything bakes up hot and bubbly in a casserole dish!
Looking for more delicious eggplant pasta recipes? Try my eggplant lasagna and this super easy vegetarian eggplant parmesan. So good!
This baked eggplant pasta is my weeknight casserole version of pasta alla norma, or Italian eggplant pasta with tomatoes! This recipe is quick to prepare and even quicker to disappear from the plate (just ask my husband, the pasta FIEND). I love that I can make the sauce easily in a skillet, and then just toss it with cooked penne before a quick bake, similar to baked feta pasta. This eggplant pasta is cheesy, easy, and delicious. As in, the perfect weeknight comfort food!
Why I Love This Eggplant Pasta Recipe
- There’s plenty of cheese. I LOVE Italian cheeses, and this eggplant pasta comes fully loaded. There are fistfuls of freshly shredded mozzarella and a whole tub of ricotta to make sure that every bite is cheesy and delicious.
- Savory flavors. This penne pasta recipe is rich and garlicky, with chunks of earthy eggplant and juicy tomatoes throughout. You don’t need anything fancy. A sprinkle of fresh basil doesn’t hurt.
- It’s quick. Sauté your ingredients, then add everything to a casserole dish and bake. I have TikTok to thank for this easy baking method! It’s very similar to the viral baked feta pasta and this spaghetti casserole.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Here are some quick notes on what you’ll need to make baked pasta with eggplants. Scroll down to the recipe card for a printable ingredients list with the full amounts.
- Pasta – I use penne pasta, but just about any type of pasta will work in this recipe. Other good choices are rigatoni, ziti, or shells.
- Olive Oil – Or another cooking oil, for sautéeing.
- Garlic – Freshly minced garlic is best. If needed, you can substitute ¼ teaspoon of garlic powder per fresh clove.
- Eggplant – Choose two smallish eggplants with smooth skins and no blemishes or soft patches. You’ll need to wash them and dice them up into cubes.
- Tomatoes – I use canned diced tomatoes, juice and all. You can use freshly diced tomatoes if you’d like. You can also use canned fire-roasted tomatoes for another layer of flavor.
- Cheese – I like a blend of part-skim ricotta and shredded mozzarella cheese. You can use full-fat if you prefer. If you don’t have ricotta, cottage cheese makes a good substitute. Replace mozzarella with shredded cheddar in a pinch.
- Basil – You’ll definitely want to use fresh basil! Dried is fine, but the flavor just doesn’t compare.
How to Make Eggplant Penne Pasta
Finally, it’s time to bring the best eggplant penne pasta to life. Follow these simple steps for a hearty, cheesy dish!
- Prep. While the oven preheats, boil the pasta al dente, then drain it.
- Sauté. Add diced eggplant to a skillet with olive oil and garlic. Season with salt and pepper, and cook over medium-high heat to get the eggplant nice and tender. Then, stir in the canned tomatoes.
- Make it cheesy. Now, take the skillet off the heat and stir in the ricotta and mozzarella cheese.
- Assemble. Add the cooked pasta to a greased baking dish. Add the eggplant and tomatoes and stir that around. I like to mix in some fresh basil here, too. Lastly, drizzle the pasta with olive oil and top with additional cheese.
- Bake. Bake your eggplant pasta at 425ºF for about 20 minutes. Once the cheese is melted, rest the pasta bake outside of the oven for a few minutes before slicing.
Recipe Tips
- Don’t overcook the pasta. Be careful not to over-boil your pasta. Since you’ll be baking it afterward, aim for al dente or slightly under. This way it won’t turn mushy after baking.
- Skip the baking step. If you’re in a hurry, you can simply skip the layering and baking steps, and serve this eggplant pasta more similarly to a traditional pasta alla norma. Instead of baking, add the cooked pasta to the skillet with the prepared sauce, toss it all together, and serve!
- Add more veggies. Change up or add to the veggies with sautéed mushrooms, bell peppers, broccoli, or butternut squash. I love making this pasta bake whenever I have leftover roasted veggies in the fridge.
Serving Suggestions
I love serving this baked eggplant pasta with a big basket of sliced focaccia bread for the fam, and a side of shrimp Caesar salad or Mediterranean salad. It’s also great with a classic Macedonian appetizer of stuffed grape leaves or chicken skewers dressed with creamy taratur sauce. Just pour yourself a tall glass of Pinot Grigio for the occasion and enjoy. This homemade coconut baklava is the best dessert to finish your meal!
Storing and Reheating Leftover Pasta
- Refrigerate. Store any leftover baked eggplant pasta covered in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Reheat. You can quickly reheat portions in the microwave, or you can warm this pasta under foil in the oven.
More Eggplant Recipes
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Eggplant Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 pound penne pasta
- butter, for greasing the baking dish
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 small eggplants, washed and diced into 1-inch cubes.
- salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 28 ounce can of diced tomatoes, do not drain
- 1 tub (15-ounces) part-skim ricotta cheese
- 2 cups part-skim shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
- 3 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh basil leaves
- olive oil
Instructions
- Prep. Preheat the oven to 425ºF. Butter a 13×9 baking dish and set it aside.
- Cook the pasta. Boil the penne pasta for 6 minutes; drain.
- Sauté the eggplant. While the pasta cooks, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add garlic and cook for 20 seconds or until fragrant. Stir in the diced eggplant and season with salt and pepper. Cook over medium-high heat until tender, about 7 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add tomatoes. Mix in the tomatoes and cook until heated through; about 2 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Make it cheesy. Stir in the ricotta cheese and 1 cup shredded mozzarella.
- Assemble. Pour the penne pasta into the prepared baking dish and mix in the eggplant mixture and basil until thoroughly combined. Drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle the rest of the mozzarella cheese on top.
- Bake. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until the cheese is melted. Remove the baked eggplant pasta from the oven and let it cool for 5 to 8 minutes before serving.
Nutrition
Nutritional info is an estimate and provided as courtesy. Values may vary according to the ingredients and tools used. Please use your preferred nutritional calculator for more detailed info.
Halved the recipe and it is still more than 4 servings. This was good though! Would take the skin off the eggplants next time and salt the eggplant for 20 minutes or so before cooking to get the bitterness out. Thank you!
Hi Samantha! SO glad you enjoyed it!
Normally, 1-pound of pasta serves 4 to 6 people as a main course, and that is why I have it written as so.
I love eggplant! This looks so good, I just pinned it. Stopping by from Inspiration Monday.
Sounds nice. Thank you.
do you know if you can cut up eggplant the day before to make this dish or does it turn brown?
Hi! Yes, the eggplant will wilt if you do that. Maybe you can cut it up and freeze it…that should work!
This looks delicious!!! I’ve had a bee in my car while I was driving before! I totally pulled off to the side of the road, threw my door open and ran a bit aways. hahaha
LOL! I’m picturing it!! I would have done the same! hahaha
Yummy! Making this for dinner tonight, hope you survived the visit from the bee 😉
Dude! That thing would not LEAVE! She just kept buzzing around… my husband came home and got rid of her. 😀
P.S. ENJOY YOUR DINNER!!!
Mmmm…….Yummo Kate! Leftovers I hear…….no problem…..I’m on my way. Aaaahhh……then again……maybe not…..It may be one Big flight!
LOL! 🙂 I knooooow, it’s SO far! .. and now I’m singing, “We come from the land down undah…” hehe
Gorgeous pasta dish, Kate! If I could, I would eat pasta every day. Perhaps for every meal. Yours looks ah-mazing! Thanks for sharing. Already pinned!
Kate,
I hope the bee is gone. I woke up in the middle of the night, went to powder my nose, looked up and saw a beetle on the ceiling. Before I could react, it jumped into the sink. “Down came the rains” and washed the beetle away. Then I saw frass and realized a caterpillar must have climbed into the hanging plant when it went outside for a rain shower, reached up, and squished that interloper. Then went back to bed. In the morning I emailed my spouse about the death and destruction.
I made ricotta yesterday, and hope I get eggplant in the farm share this week because I could get behind this pasta. Thanks!
I’m totally in love with your pasta… It looks amazing!! So gonna make this for me and my boyfriend next week!!
I hope you’ll love it!!! Thank you! 🙂