An easy & delicious roast aubergine (eggplant) & tomato pasta with a creamy red pepper sauce & fresh spinach. Packed with vegetables, nutrients & comfort.

Easy Roast Aubergine and Tomato Pasta with Spinach

Name: Easy Roast Aubergine and Tomato Pasta with Spinach
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 5
Cuisine: Italian, gluten-free, vegan, dairy-free, plant-based
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon olive oil; 1 large aubergine, chopped into small chunks; 16 cherry tomatoes (or other small tomatoes), halved; ½ teaspoon garlic powder (granules or fresh garlic crushed); ½ teaspoon paprika; ½ teaspoon dried oregano; salt & pepper; 2 large handfuls fresh spinach; 500g (17 ½ oz) rigatoni pasta (or penne pasta, regular or gluten-free); 300g (10 ½ oz or 1 1⁄4 cups) hummus; 3 tablespoons red pepper paste (or sundried tomato paste); ½ chilli flakes (red pepper flakes); 1 pinch salt and pepper; 100 ml (1⁄4 cup) pasta water, scooped out near the end of the cooking time

I'm obsessed with this roast aubergine and tomato pasta dish. It's hearty and comforting and packed with flavour.

From the sweet, juicy, bursting cherry tomatoes and the tender spiced pieces of aubergine, to the creamy, garlicky sauce, with a little heat and the added greens for extra nutrients.

Just perfect and very moreish.

It tastes like it took hours to make, but it's ready in under 30 minutes from start to finish, so it's the perfect quick weeknight dinner or easy weekend dish.

Once you've made this roasted aubergine pasta, it will become a regular dish on your weekly meal plan.

close up of aubergine and tomato pasta in a bowl.

Why you'll love this pasta recipe

I'm in love with this easy pasta recipe and I know once you try it you will love it too.

Let me persuade you!

Made in under 30 minutes - from start to finish
Big flavours with little effort - the pasta cooks and the sauce is made while the vegetables roast
Full of vegetables - so it's a healthy option
Roasting vegetables gives them such a wonderful flavour - and it makes the tomatoes sweet and juicy
The sauce is creamy - without adding cream
There's extra protein in the sauce - to leave you feeling fuller for longer
Easy to tweak - try adding extra vegetables or chickpeas
It tastes amazing!
It's dairy-free, plant-based and vegan

Are you tempted yet?

What you need to make this roasted veg pasta

Here are the simple ingredients you need to make this roasted eggplant pasta (yes I know many of you call it eggplant and not aubergine, so I thought I'd throw that in there).

Rigatoni - or other pasta shapes, penne would work well
Olive oil - I use extra virgin olive oil (evoo), but a mild olive oil or rapeseed oil are fine too
Aubergine - eggplant
Cherry tomatoes - or other small fresh tomatoes like baby plum tomatoes (grape tomatoes)
Fresh spinach - I use baby spinach, but you can use regular spinach, just cut any tough stems off
Hummus
Red pepper paste - or sundried tomato paste
Lemon juice - I prefer to use fresh
Chilli flakes - red pepper flakes
Paprika - mild or smoked
Dried oregano
Garlic powder - or garlic granules
Salt & black pepper - to season

The full printable recipe card is at the bottom of the page with a full ingredient list, method, notes and nutritional information.

The jump to recipe button is at the top of the page.

Love aubergine? Try my roast miso aubergine 'steaks', my aubergine balti or my aubergine 'meatball' recipe.

Simple tweaks

I always say to try the recipe as I share it first as it's well tested, so I know it will be good, but you can make some simple variations to it.

Here are some ideas:

Add red pepper to the roasting pan - for extra veg
Swap the spinach - for kale or rocket (arugula)
Add corn to the roasting vegetables a couple of minutes before the end of cooking - for a pop of colour and sweetness
Throw in some pine nuts - for added texture
Add chickpeas to the roasting vegetables - for extra protein
Fresh herbs are good too - add them at the end, just as you stir the sauce into the pasta, fresh basil or parsley work well
Make it gluten-free - by using gluten-free pasta
Add cheese before serving - either vegan parmesan or vegan cheddar, this pasta is gutsy enough to be good with cheddar

I'm sure you will have a few ideas too. It's always good to use up what you have in the fridge.

Roasted aubergine and tomato cherry pasta in a creamy hummus sauce in a roasting tin.

How to make a sauce silky, the Italian way

Italians have a particularly clever way to make sauces silky smooth.

They simply add some of the pasta water, from the cooking pasta towards the end of the cook time.

The starch in the water helps to emulsify the sauce and make it silky and smooth, so it will cling to the pasta.

Try it next time you make a sauce.

Oh, and always add the pasta to the sauce

When I was young and naive, I would spoon sauce on top of pasta as I served it, but I grew up and learned a thing to two and one of those things I learned was you always pour the pasta into the sauce and mix it well.

Each piece of pasta should be coated beautifully in the sauce and if you have a hollow pasta, like penne or rigatoni, it will fill the pasta too.

So you always get a good mouthful of pasta and sauce with each bite.

For this recipe, I toss the freshly cooked (al dente) pasta into the roasting tin with the roasted vegetables and mix it well, so it picks up all the little tasty bits from the roasting pan.

Then I add the velvety sauce and toss it through the pasta until everything is perfectly coated before serving.

It's so blooming tasty! And comforting too,

Even better if you make some of my air fryer garlic bread to serve with it. Although it's good served with a dressed green salad too.

A bowl of roasted eggplant & tomato pasta with spinach and a creamy sauce.

Storage Tips

As with any pasta, this aubergine pasta is best served fresh.

However, once cool, you can store the cold pasta in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days.

Just add a splash of water to the pasta to loosen the sauce when you reheat it.

Save your favourite recipes for free!

Hit the heart (look to the left) to save this and other recipes.

Once logged in, you can save your favourite recipes and access them by hitting the heart on any of my recipes or going to grow.me where they will be stored for you for free.

pin it for later

Easy Roast Aubergine and Tomato Pasta with Spinach pin.

Also, join my Facebook group Living on the Veg.

It's a very friendly community with lots of recipes and chat. I'm in there every day chatting with group members, many of whom have become friends over the years.

Remember and say hi. I'm always happy to chat and answer questions.

Oh and sign up for my daily recipe to receive a different recipe to inspire you every morning.

How to make roast aubergine & cherry tomato rigatoni

A step-by-step photo guide followed by a full printable recipe.

Step 1

Preheat your oven and add the diced vegetables to a large roasting tin or large baking sheet.
Season with the herbs, spices and seasonings, then add olive oil and toss well to coat.
Cook until soft and beginning to char at the edges.
Remove from the oven and add the spinach.

Step 2

While the vegetables are roasting, cook your pasta according to the packet instructions in a large pot of salted water (boiling rapidly) and test it near the end of cook time to make sure it is al dente (with bite, a little firm but cooked).
Once the pasta is cooking, you can make the sauce.
Add the hummus and paste to a food processor or blender (don't have one, just whisk in a bowl) with the spices and seasoning,
Once the pasta is nearly cooked, scoop out some pasta water and add it to the other sauce ingredients.

Step 3

Whizz the sauce ingredients until you have a velvety sauce, adding more pasta water if you need it.
Once your pasta is perfectly cooked, drain in and pour it into the pan with the roasted vegetables and toss well, to get all that flavour from the pan as well as mixing in the veg,

Step 4

Now pour the sauce over the pasta and mix really well until all the pasta and veg is well coated in the sauce.
Serve and enjoy!

pasta, roast vegetable pasta, roast aubergine and tomato pasta, vegan roasted aubergine pasta, quick vegan pasta, quick midweek dinner, dairy-free, gluten-free

Dinner

Italian, gluten-free, vegan, dairy-free, plant-based

Yield: 5

Author: Jacqueline Meldrum