Orecchiette with Nduja and Eggplant (Aubergine)

5 from 24 votes

Orecchiette with Nduja and Eggplant (Aubergine)

This spicy nduja and eggplant pasta recipe is full of rich and bold typical Southern Italian flavours! Perfect for spicy food loving foodies!

Prep Time30

Cook Time30

Total Time1

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Basilicata, Calabria, Italian, Puglia, Southern Italian

Keyword: aubergine, eggplant, nduja, orecchiette, pasta recipe, spicy, spicy sausage

Servings:

Calories: 540kcal

Author: Jacqui

Ingredients

400 g orechiette (14oz) fresh, dried or homemade
2 eggplants
2 tablespoon nduja
1 onion peeled and finely chopped
250 g cherry tomatoes (9oz) cut in half
300 g tomato passata (10oz) I prefer to use Cirio rustico which is chunkier
50 g ricotta salata (2oz) grated
extra virgin olive oil as required
salt as required
black pepper to taste
1 handful fresh parsley chopped

Instructions

Cut the eggplants into small pieces , sprinkle with salt and let them purge in a colander for at least 30 minutes.
While waiting for the eggplant, prepare the sauce. Peel and cut the onion finely and cook it in two tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan or skillet over a low heat. Then turn the heat up to medium and add the cherry tomatoes cut in half and a pinch of salt. Once the tomatoes have started to soften add the nduja.
Continue to stir over a low heat until the nduja has melted. Then add the tomato passata. Stir and let the sauce simmer over a low heat for about 10-15 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Rinse the eggplant well and pat dry with a cloth. Fry the eggplant pieces in plenty of olive oil. Remove as soon as they start to brown , without cooking them completely. You can place them on some kitchen paper to drain some of the oil.
Put a pot of water on to boil for the pasta. Add salt once it starts to boil and bring to the boil again. Cook the orecchiette al dente according to the instructions on the packet. Before draining save a little of the pasta cooking water.
Add the eggplant pieces to the pan with the sauce and cook for another 5 minutes over a medium heat.
Turn off the heat and add 2 tablespoons of grated ricotta salata and 1 tablespoon of chopped parsley. Mix everything together then add the cooked orecchiette to the nduja and eggplant sauce. You can add some of the pasta cooking water if the sauce seems too thick.
Mix together well and serve immediately sprinkled with more cheese and parsley,

Notes

If you can't find orecchiette, this recipe is good with other short pasta such as penne, casarecce or cavatelli.

I used ricotta salata but a semi-aged provola would be typical too. Otherwise i would suggest pecorino.

Nutrition