This easy pasta with eggplant and spinach is packed full of roasted eggplant pieces mixed with fresh baby spinach and sauce. This tasty vegetarian pasta dish is a great weeknight meal or lunch.
This post was originally published in April 2018 and has been updated for content.
Two of my favorite things in life are roasted vegetables and pasta. This pasta with eggplant and spinach combines those two loves and is the perfect meal when you are looking for something on the lighter side that is also filling.
Serve with pasta with eggplant and spinach with lemon ricotta cake, grilled peaches with mascarpone or strawberry rhubarb cheesecake bars!
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🍆 Ingredient notes
- Eggplant - Choose a medium sized eggplant that's around 1 - 1 ½ pounds in weight. Look for one with smooth shiny skin that leaves an imprint when you lightly press your finger into it.
- Pasta - Penne, ziti, rigatoni, shells, rotini, or fussili will work for this recipe.
- Sauce - Either my italian gravy recipe can be used for the sauce or your favorite store bought marinara sauce.
- Spinach - I prefer using fresh spinach for this pasta, but if you only have frozen, that will work too. Make sure to thaw the spinach and squeeze out the excess water. You should only need about 1 cup of frozen thawed spinach.
📋 Substitutions and variations
- Gluten free - Make sure to use both gluten free pasta and gluten free marinara.
- More veggies - Roast some asparagus with the eggplant or throw in some chopped kale with the spinach for even more veggies!
- Spicy - Add 1 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes to the marinara to give this pasta a zesty kick!
- Meat - While this dish is vegetarian, you can certainly add sausage, chicken or steak to the recipe.
🔪 Step by step instructions
First, cut the eggplant into 1" cubes and place them on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place in the oven to roast while you prepare the pasta, tossing it about halfway through.
While the eggplant is roasting, cook the pasta in boiling salted water in a large pot until it's al dente. Reserve ½ cup of the pasta cooking water and then drain the remaining water from the pasta.
In the pot you cooked the pasta, add the finished roasted eggplant with the fresh baby spinach and cook until the spinach just wilts.
Add in the marinara sauce and reserved pasta water and then let it simmer for a couple more minutes until the sauce is heated through.
Toss the cooked pasta with the sauce and vegetables and serve!
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⭐ Expert tips
- Toss the eggplant half way through roasting so that it browns evenly.
- Always cook pasta in boiling salted water to flavor the dish.
- Don't rinse the pasta after draining the water from it. It will help the sauce stick better to your pasta.
- Reserve the pasta cooking water to add to the sauce. It contains starches and flavor from the pasta that help develop the sauce for this recipe.
💭 Frequently asked questions
You don't need to peel the eggplant before roasting. The skin is completely edible and you won't even notice it in this dish. The smaller the eggplant is the thinner the skin will be.
⏲️ Make ahead and storage instructions
The eggplant can be roasted, cooled and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to 2 days ahead of time.
Leftover pasta with eggplant and spinach will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-5 days and can be reheated in the microwave or in a pot on the stovetop with a little bit of extra sauce.
🍅 More easy pasta dishes
If you like this easy pasta with eggplant and spianch, try these other easy pasta dishes that I know you will love too!
- Pastina with Egg
- Rotini Pasta with Italian Sausage
- Casarecce Pasta with Asparagus and Peas
- Tortellini alla Panna
📖 Recipe
Pasta with Eggplant and Spinach
Ingredients
- 1 medium eggplant, approximately 1 - 1 ½ pounds
- 3 Tablespoons olive oil, divided
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt, plus extra for cooking pasta
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 pound penne pasta or 12 ounces gluten free pasta
- 3 cups fresh baby spinach
- 3 cups italian gravy, or store bought marinara
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400˚ and line a baking sheet (affiliate link) with parchment paper (affiliate link).
- Cut eggplant into approximately 1" cubes and place on the prepared baking sheet.
- Drizzle eggplant with 2 Tablespoons of the olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper & oregano.
- Roast eggplant in the oven for 30 minutes, tossing halfway through, until browned.
- While the eggplant is roasting, bring a large pot with 4 quarts of water to boil over medium high heat. Once water begins to boil add 1 Tablespoon of salt and then add in dried pasta. Stir and cook for 10-12 minutes or until al dente. (Cooking times may vary with gluten free pasta)
- When pasta is done cooking, reserve ½ cup of the water and drain the rest from the pasta. Set aside.
- When the eggplant is done roasting, heat the remaining 1 Tablespoon of olive oil in the pot that the pasta was cooked in over medium-high heat. Add in the roasted eggplant and baby spinach. Cook while stirring occasionally until the spinach just wilts, about 2-3 minutes.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low and add in the italian gravy and reserved pasta water. Stir and allow to simmer for 1-2 minutes to heat the sauce through.
- Add cooked drained pasta and toss with the sauce to combine everything.
Notes
- Choose a medium sized eggplant that's around 1 - 1 ½ pounds in weight. Look for one with smooth shiny skin that leaves an imprint when you lightly press your finger into it.
- You don't need to peel the eggplant before roasting. The skin is completely edible and you won't even notice it in this dish. The smaller the eggplant is the thinner the skin will be.
- Toss the eggplant half way through roasting so that it roasts evenly.
- Always cook pasta in boiling salted water to flavor the dish.
- Don't rinse the pasta after draining the water from it. It will help the sauce stick better to your pasta.
- Reserve the pasta cooking water to add to the sauce. It contains starches and flavor from the pasta that help develop the sauce for this recipe.
Substitutions and Variations
- Pasta - Penne, ziti, rigatoni, shells, rotini, or fussili will work for this recipe.
- Sauce - Either my italian gravy recipe can be used for the sauce or your favorite store bought marinara sauce.
- Spinach - I prefer using fresh spinach for this pasta, but if you only have frozen, that will work too. Make sure to thaw the spinach and squeeze out the excess water before adding. You should only need about 1 cup of frozen thawed spinach.
- Gluten free - Make sure to use both gluten free pasta and gluten free marinara.
- More veggies - Roast some asparagus with the eggplant or throw in some chopped kale with the spinach for even more veggies!
- Spicy - Add 1 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes to the marinara to give this pasta a zesty kick!
- Meat - While this dish is vegetarian, you can certainly add sausage, chicken or steak to the recipe.
Glitched One
This looks so good! I can't wait to try it. Great pictures, too!
Amanda
Thank you!