Our Eggplant Ragu + Pappardelle Noodles is a wonderful way to use your end-of-summer eggplant and work a meatless meal into your week! Made with real, simple ingredients and full of so much great flavor!
The Best Eggplant Ragu
We wanted to try something different with the last few garden eggplants of the season. Typically our family likes to make Eggplant Parmesan but I just didn’t have enough time. Soooo, I thought I would incorporate some of the same ingredients, but put them together in a different way. Boom – Roasted Eggplant Ragu. Ragu is typically a meat-based pasta sauce – obviously, here we switched out the meat for eggplant and the result was pretty amazing. The tomatoes are bursting with flavor, the eggplant provides an earthy flavor, and a couple chunks of mozzarella or burrata cheese adds some savoriness.
What You Will Need
- fresh eggplant – the perfect late-summer vegetable that can be found at your local grocery store or farmer’s markets.
- olive oil – a drizzle in the hot pan to get all the flavors started!
- whole tomatoes & cherry tomatoes – the traditional base of any delicious ragú recipe.
- yellow onion & fresh garlic cloves – classic flavor starters in any homemade sauce!
- red wine – just a little bit for that great depth of flavor.
- kosher salt, oregano leaves, & basil leaves – simple seasonings that are a must in any Italian-inspired dish.
- capers – these little pops of salty flavor are the secret ingredient for this meatless dinner.
- pappardelle noodles – option to sub with gluten-free noodles, if you prefer.
How To Make Roasted Eggplant Ragu
The first steps to making this easy recipe are to mix the eggplant pieces in a medium bowl with some olive oil and salt. Place these pieces on a parchment-lined baking sheet and roast in a preheated oven for 20-25 minutes. While the eggplant is roasting, bring a nonstick skillet to a medium-high heat, drizzle in some olive oil, sauté the garlic until fragrant, and then toss in the onion to cook until it becomes slightly translucent. Now add the tomatoes, wine, capers, and remaining seasonings. Mix and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until it thickens. Serve over pappardelle noodles with chunks of fresh cheese and enjoy!
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Other Pasta Recipes You Might Like
Eggplant Ragu
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Dinner/Entree
- Method: Stove Top
- Cuisine: American
Description
A delicious, hearty eggplant ragu recipe that is perfect for late summer dinners! Serve with noodles and fresh mozzarella!
Ingredients
- 1 medium-sized eggplant, cut into bite-sized chunks
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
- 3–4 medium tomatoes, diced into 1-inch chunks
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 10 cherry tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon red wine
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano leaves
- 1/3 teaspoon basil leaves
- 5 garlic cloves, quartered
- 1 teaspoon capers
- pappardelle noodles (approx. 6-9 oz)
- garnish: chunks of fresh mozzarella or burrata cheese, fresh basil leaves
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- In a medium bowl, add eggplant, 2 tablespoons olive oil, and 1 teaspoon salt; toss.
- Place eggplant chunks on a baking sheet, lined with parchment paper.
- Roast in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, stirring after 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, bring a cast iron skillet to a medium-high heat, and add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and garlic.
- When garlic starts to get fragrant, add onion, and let cook until it starts to become translucent, while stirring.
- Now add tomatoes, wine, remaining teaspoon of salt, oregano, basil, and capers.
- Let simmer, uncovered, for 15-20 minutes, or until sauce thickens – make sure to taste the sauce and add any additional seasonings, if desired. If sauce gets too thick, add additional olive oil or wine.
- While the sauce simmers, prepare pappardelle pasta according to packaging instructions (al dente is recommended).
- Add cooked noodles the the eggplant sauce and stir together.
- Garnish the pasta with chunks of either mozzarella or burrata cheese (as much or as little as you like) and rip some fresh basil on top.
Notes
- Gluten-Free: just use gluten-free noodles.
- Storage: store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 6 oz
- Calories: 267
- Sugar: 12.5 g
- Sodium: 659.7 mg
- Fat: 11.7 g
- Carbohydrates: 36.7 g
- Protein: 7.1 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Claudia | The Brick Kitchen says
Eggplant pasta is my favourite! Love how you have made it into a ragu here, and with burrata too. I just wish eggplants were in season around here in the southern hemisphere at the moment!
Erin says
Thanks, Claudia! Fall is quickly approaching here, so I am going to miss our eggplants over the long winter 🙂