Eggplant, Tomato and Chicken Sausage Pasta

Living in the Garden State certainly has its perks, especially in the summer. We have beaches, plenty of fun outdoor things to do, and incredibly glorious produce! Tomatoes here are at their peak, and so is eggplant. So when I got an abundance of them in my latest CSA pickup, I put them all in this wonderful and simple pasta dish. All of the ingredients really sing here because there aren’t too many and it’s all seasonal.

I wanted to add a protein element in this dish, and chicken sausage was the perfect choice. It had all of that gorgeous sausage flavor while being much lower in fat. I browned it first to put down a layer of flavor.
Behold the glorious produce!! There is really nothing like Jersey tomatoes in the summer. The three I used were huge, and the eggplants I was offered were pretty small. I just diced them all fairly small, but not so small that they would just disintegrate when they cooked for an hour. I wanted them to still have some texture.
Everything went into the pot together to slowly simmer for an hour. The tomatoes released so much lovely juice to form a fresh base for the sauce. It all developed so much flavor!
For the last step, I poured in a little pasta cooking water and an equal amount of grated parmesan cheese. That emulsified the sauce and brought everything together before I just stirred in my cooked pasta. It was that easy! I just scooped it into pretty bowls and served it.

I loved how this dish was hearty and satisfying while still being light and summer friendly! It also yielded a lot since Marc and I both love our leftovers. I hope you all love this recipe too!! xoxo

Eggplant, Tomato and Chicken Sausage Pasta
Eggplant, Tomato and Chicken Sausage Pasta
4.5 from 4 votes
Eggplant, Tomato and Chicken Sausage Pasta
Eggplant, Tomato and Chicken Sausage Pasta
Prep Time
15 mins
Cook Time
1 hr 30 mins
 

This is such a simple, wonderful and flavorful pasta dish loaded with leaner chicken sausage, fresh tomatoes, eggplant in a light sauce.

Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Italian
Keyword: Eggplant, Tomato and Chicken Sausage Pasta, Pasta
Servings: 6
Calories: 429 kcal
Author: Jeanie and Lulu’s Kitchen
Ingredients
  • 1 dash olive oil
  • 1 pound chicken sausage casings removed
  • 4 small eggplants diced small
  • 3 large tomatoes diced small
  • 6 cloves roasted garlic mashed *make ahead of time, see note
  • 2 pinches salt
  • 2 pinches crushed red pepper
  • 1 pound farfalle pasta
  • 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
  1. Get out a large pot and heat the olive oil in it over medium high heat. Brown the sausage in it as you break it up with a spoon. Once it is completely browned, remove it to a plate. Add in the eggplant and tomatoes. Let them soften and get fragrant for a few minutes. The tomatoes should start to let out their juices and start to form the base of a sauce. Add in the roasted garlic, and the browned chicken sausage. Season the mixture generously with salt and crushed red pepper to taste. Stir it all well, then let it simmer on medium low for an hour.

  2. When the hour is just about up, get a pot of water on to boil for the pasta. Salt it until it tastes like the sea, then cook the farfalle in it until tender. It should take about 8 minutes. Before you drain it, scoop 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water and pour it into the pot of sauce, along with the parmesan. This will emulsify the sauce into pure gorgeousness. Finally, drain the pasta and stir it into the sauce. Scoop it into pretty bowls and serve immediately!

Recipe Notes

*to roast garlic, pre-heat the oven to 400. Remove the outer paper layers of a head of garlic and cut the top tip off to reveal the cloves inside. Dizzle the top with a little olive oil, then wrap it in foil and roast it in the oven for an hour. Perfection, it has so many uses! It can be stored in the refrigerator for weeks, I made it a couple of days prior to Thanksgiving cooking and used it in all of my recipes.

Nutrition Facts
Eggplant, Tomato and Chicken Sausage Pasta
Amount Per Serving (1 bowl)
Calories 429 Calories from Fat 77
% Daily Value*
Fat 8.6g13%
Saturated Fat 2.9g18%
Cholesterol 89mg30%
Sodium 469mg20%
Potassium 1131mg32%
Carbohydrates 66.3g22%
Fiber 13.7g57%
Sugar 12.6g14%
Protein 24g48%
Calcium 136mg14%
Iron 4mg22%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.