Whole wheat penne with aubergine and pine nuts
A taste of the Mediterranean with nutritious whole wheat pasta
Prep Time1 hour hr
Cook Time30 minutes mins
Total Time1 hour hr 30 minutes mins
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Italian, Mediterranean
Keyword: pasta, pasta recipe, penne, vegetarian
Servings: 4
Calories: 499kcal
- 400 g whole wheat penne rigate
- 400 g aubergine cut into small cubes
- 1 garlic clove finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon concentrated tomato paste
- 10-12 datterini or cherry tomatoes
- 1 red chilli pepper peperoncino finely chopped
- 20 pitted black olives
- 60 g grated parmesan or pecorino
- 8-10 caper flowers stems removed
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Salt and pepper
Put the aubergine cubes in lightly salted water for 30 minutes, then drain, squeeze out the water and pat dry on kitchen paper.
Fry them in olive oil with the garlic until brown. Aubergine tends to absorb the oil so you may need to add more if they start to stick.
Add the cherry tomatoes, tomato paste, pine nuts, caper flowers, chilli pepper and olives and continue to cook on a low heat for 15-20 minutes. The longer you cook the sauce, the more concentrated the flavours will be. Add a little water if the mixture is too dry.
Add salt and pepper to taste
While the sauce is cooking, put a pot of water onto boil for the pasta. Add salt once it starts to boil and bring to the boil again. Cook the pasta in the boiling salted water until al dente according to the instructions on the packet, then drain and mix well with the sauce.
Serve with the grated parmesan or pecorino cheese.
This recipe could also be served as a cold pasta salad in summer or baked with the addition of some mozzarella.
If you can't find whole wheat penne any short pasta can be used such as fusilli or maccheroni.
Adapted from Complete Italian Food Antonio Carluccio
Calories: 499kcal | Carbohydrates: 85g | Protein: 20g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 10mg | Sodium: 598mg | Potassium: 644mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 595IU | Vitamin C: 29mg | Calcium: 226mg | Iron: 2mg