This quick and easy recipe for pasta with eggplant and tomato tastes like pure Mediterranean summer in a bowl. It's the kind of summer pasta that feels both comforting and fresh, perfect for lazy evenings or quick weekday dinners when you crave something healthy and light in less than 30 minutes.
For this eggplant pasta dish, all you need to do is sauté the eggplant with olive oil until it's silky and tender. The tomatoes should be added at the last moment so that they remain juicy and fresh. Finished with creamy feta and aromatic basil, and ready in less than 30 minutes, it's the kind of summer pasta dish that checks all the boxes.
If it's one thing I've learned all these years I've been cooking, is that the best summertime pasta starts with what's in season. In Greece, this means glossy eggplants and vine-rippened tomatoes. My yiayia (grandmother) would make pasta with eggplant and tomato in late summer, with vegetables from her garden, letting them shine with just a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of feta. Nowadays, most vegetables just don't taste like they used to. That's why, for a recipe with such simple ingredients, it's worth finding the best you can, for that incomparable flavor.
Greek cuisine is famous for its delicious summer recipes! Don't miss this creamy Greek pasta salad with a healthy yogurt dressing, these easy Gemista (Greek stuffed peppers & tomatoes) straight from my yiayia's kitchen and this Mediterranean vegetable orzo pasta (one pot recipe).
📋 Ingredient notes
To make this eggplant and tomato pasta recipe you'll need the following ingredients:
Eggplant: Use your favorite of eggplant such as globe eggplant, Italian or Graffity eggplant, and keep in mind that the small/medium sized ones are sweeter. This article from urban farm and kitchen has the 13 best eggplant varieties.
👉 Thyme and garlic complement the taste of eggplant beautifully!
Tomatoes: Find the best, ripe tomatoes you can find! Today, it's really hard to find tomatoes that taste as good as the ones from my grandmas garden, so I use grape (or cherry) tomatoes because I find them more flavorfull and sweeter. They also have less juices, so they don't make the sauce watery. Heirloom tomatoes are also great.
Feta cheese: Again, good quality feta will make this eggplant dish heavenly.
Olives: I use sliced and pitted Kalamata olives but you can use whatever you have on hand. Capers are a great alternative, for a similar briny flavor.
Pasta: Again, use your favorite type of pasta such as penne, rigatoni, farfalle, fusilli or spaghetti. If you follow the Mediterranean Diet, whole wheat pasta is recommended. If you avoid gluten, gluten-free pasta works great with this recipe.
For the full list of ingredients with quantities, please see the recipe card ⬇️ at the end of this post.
👨🍳 Expert Tips
Follow these expert tips for the best summer pasta recipe with eggplant:
✅How to make eggplant less bitter: Nowadays, through selective reproduction most eggplant types are less bitter than they used to be.
However, to remove any bitterness, you can do one of the following:
- Salting: Slice the eggplant and sprinkle salt on both sides. Let it sit for 20 minutes, rinse well, squeeze and pat dry with paper towels.
- Soaking: Soak the eggplant slices in a bowl filled with water and salt. Add enough salt until the water tastes like sea water. Let it soak for 30 minutes, then rinse well, squeeze and pat dry with paper towels.
✅ "Male" eggplants tend to have fewer seeds and are therefore less bitter than "female" eggplants. You'll recognize the "males" from the round indentation they have at the bottom, while the "females" have more of a linear indentation.
✅ Smaller, younger eggplants tend to be less bitter also.
🎥 Video
Watch how to make this summertime pasta with eggplant, tomato, feta and basil:
🎵 Music on Video: Outside Musician: @iksonmusic
📖 Recipe
Quick summer pasta with eggplant, tomato and feta
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons (50 g) extra virgin olive oil
- 1 medium (400 g) eggplant (diced in 1-inch cubes)
- Salt (to taste)
- 2 cloves of garlic (crushed)
- 2 teaspoons dried thyme (see note#1)
- ½ cup olives (sliced and pitted)
- 1 pound (450 g) cherry tomatoes (cut in half, or diced tomatoes)
- 10.6 oz (300 g) feta cheese (crumbled)
- black pepper (freshly grated, to taste)
- 20 fresh basil leaves
- 1 pound (450 g) dried pasta (boiled and drained, see note#2)
Instructions
- Heat a large skillet or a deep pot over medium/high heat and add the olive oil, the eggplant, the salt and the garlic. Stir and toss until the eggplant is soft, then add the thyme and the black pepper. Cook until the eggplant is completely soft and silky, then remove the crushed garlic cloves.👉 If you notice that little bits of eggplant stick to the bottom of your saucepan and start to burn, just deglaze with a splash of water.👉 I don't mince the garlic because I don't want a strong garlic flavor in this recipe.👉 Boil the pasta in a separate pot while the eggplant is cooking.
- Add the olives, the tomatoes, the feta cheese and the basil and cook for 1 more minute, until the tomatoes are warm and the feta just starts to melt.👉 Don't cook the tomatoes, add them at the last minute, just to warm them up. This way they keep all their juices and freshness.
- Add the pasta and toss to combine. Taste and adjust the salt if needed. Serve.
Notes
Storage
If you have any leftovers, transfer to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.More summer recipes to try:
Nutrition
🍳 Similar Recipes
If you tried this Summer pasta with eggplant and tomato, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. I love hearing from you!
Karly says
I am so excited about this recipe! I can't wait to try it!
Makos says
Thanks Karly! Good luck!
Mimi says
Just beautiful, with wonderful summer vegetables. Beautiful photos!
Makos says
Thank you very much Mimi! 🙂
Akhila@Pepper Delight says
This looks AMAZZING!!! I am craving pasta dishes these days and with all the summer goodness, it's Perfect!!!
Makos says
Thanks! Summer calls for summer pasta, haha!
Sandy says
I made this yesterday and it was really simple and satisfying. I live in Thailand so I had to make some changes (for example, Thai basil tastes pretty different than sweet basil, and we can't get feta cheese in my city) but it was still delicious! Thank you!
Makos says
Thanks for the feeedback Sandy, I'mvery happy you liked it! I hope one day I'll manage to visit Thailand. All the places and flavors must be wonderful!