Recipe for Sausage and Roast Aubergine Pasta Sauce

The days are cold and we have been shut inside our houses for what seems like forever. There is nothing like coming home and the whole house smells like your favourite cuisine – Italian!

Ingredients:

I went to a local supermarket and they had a selection of the freshest small baby aubergines, long purple ones, small round purple ones and the cutest of all purple and white egg shaped baby aubergines. I thought for a day or so what I wanted to do with them. They work really well in Indian dishes stuffed with delicious freshly roasted and ground spices and cooked gently in a tomato based sauce.

However I do love vegetables kissed lightly with olive oil and gently anointed with salt, pepper and chilli flakes. Roasting the vegetables in the oven for about an hour but checking and turning them over after 30 minutes will give you a delicious start to any pasta sauce.

I bought an interesting looking Italian sausage at the local butchers which I cut up into bite size pieces and sautéed with the freshly chopped onion, garlic and celery.

Recipe:

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Italian Sausage and Roast Aubergine Pasta

A quick and easy recipe that is tasty and the family will love it

Author: Heidi Roberts

Ingredients

• 500 grams Italian sausage
• 1 kg assorted colour mini aubergines
• 2 medium onions
• 1 chilli pepper
• 2 bulbs garlic
• 5 tbsp olive oil
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1 med red pepper
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• 2 cans chopped tomatoes
• 1 bottle tomato pasatta
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter

Instructions

1. With a sharp knife slice halfway through the aubergines from the bottom in a cross

2. On a baking tray place the aubergines, chillis, one onion cut into wedges,red pepper cut into pieces and two whole bulbs of garlic with the tops sliced off.

3. Cover the contents of the tray with 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and mix thoroughly until all the vegetables are coated with the oil.

4. Roast in a pre-heated oven at 180° for 40-50 minutes turning after 25 minutes

5. Meanwhile in a large sauce pan sautee the second onion chopped into small pieces in the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil until they are translucent and starting to turn brown.

6. Add the sausage which has been chopped into thumb sized pieces to the pan with the onion and cook until all of the sausage pieces have browned.

7. Add the tomato puree to the pan and cook until it starts to brown.

8. Remove the vegetables from the oven.

9. Squeeze the roasted garlic cloves to get out the sweet roasted garlic inside.

10. Add the garlic and roast vegetables to the pan with the onion and sausage.

11. Pour in the contents of the two cans of tomatoes and stir really well.

12. Let the contents of the pan simmer for about 25 minutes then add the butter, salt and pepper.

13. Check for seasonings and adjust according to taste.

14. Serve the sauce over your favourite pasta or spaghetti.

15. Enjoy!

Pasta meals make up a large part of our food and as they are simple, delicious and full of vegetables they are also healthy.  There is always left over pasta and sauce which makes a great lunch the following day or an evening meal mid-week with a lovely fresh salad.

Further Reading:

Here are a couple of other posts you might enjoy:-

Recipe: Italian Ragu

Italy: 48 hours in Tuscany

What is your favourite pasta and sauce. Please leave a comment below – I’d love to know.

I was not required to write this post. As usual all opinions and photographs are my own. No photographs may be reproduced in any manner without my written permission.