Aubergine & Tomato Pasta

I've been making this aubergine pasta forever, and I was pretty sure I'd blogged about it already, but apparently I haven't (not going mad, honest). It's originally Aubergine & Anchovy pasta, a recipe from Kitchen 22, former Cambridge resident who has now defected to Oxford (horror!). I forgive her though, because she gives us nice things like this pasta dish.

I don't have a huge amount of success when it comes to aubergines, but things have recently got better due to me realising that fridge-cold aubergines never cook properly - going rubbery during cooking - but room temperature aubergines will cook down like all the recipe books say they should. So there you are, Top Tip - never cook aubergines straight from the fridge. 

This pasta sauce is very simple and has lots of great flavours for relatively little effort. You roast the aubergine for a while, then scoop out the flesh and add it to garlic, tomatoes and oregano. The original recipe has anchovy too, but as Mr is veggie I leave this out (would be unkind otherwise...) and it tastes great all the same. I have taken to replacing them with some capers, for saltiness. I also tweaked and added in passata instead of tomato puree. I'm a tweaker, what can I say.

Aubergine & Tomato Pasta
adapted from Kitchen 22
Serves 2 with a little extra for lunch the next day (yay)

300g spaghetti or linguine
1 aubergine - room temperature!
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped or minced
150g of passata or whizzed up plum tomatoes
1 tsp of capers, chopped
dried oregano
parmesan or veggie alternative
parsley to serve

Heat the oven to 200c / gas mark 5. Place the aubergine on a tray covered in foil (I've found they stick to trays so easily!), pierce the skin and roast for 30 minutes, turning once half way through.

When it is collapsing and the insides soft, remove from the oven. Leave to cool before scooping out the flesh.

Heat some oil in a large saucepan and fry your garlic then add capers, oregano, passata and season (you may not need salt because of the capers) Chop the aubergine roughly and stir in. Simmer whilst you cook the pasta.

When the pasta is cooked add a small amount of cheese to the sauce and stir in. Then stir in the pasta.
Serve with more cheese on top or some parsley.

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