Pasta with eggplant pesto, almonds and confit cherry tomatoes, served with burrata. This is one of those first courses with eggplant that absolutely must be in our collection of summer eggplant recipes, and one of those first courses that always makes a great impression at the table. We’ve already discussed the eggplant and cherry tomato pesto, as well as the eggplant and basil pesto, both part of our collection of homemade pestos. This time I didn’t want to make a simple pasta; I wanted something even more tasty and special: so to make everything unique I added burrata. The result is this creamy pasta with eggplant pesto that drove my whole family crazy! Ready to make it too? Let’s go, but first a reminder: if you want to keep up with all my recipes you can follow my Facebook page (here) and my Instagram profile (here).
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- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Very inexpensive
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Cooking time: 1 Hour
- Portions: 5
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Spring, Summer and Autumn
Ingredients to make pasta with eggplant pesto and cherry tomatoes
- 1 eggplant (large)
- cups cherry tomatoes ((about 9 oz))
- cup almonds ((about 2 oz))
- oz Parmesan (or a mix of Parmesan and Pecorino (about 2/3 cup grated))
- tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- to taste salt
- to taste dried oregano
- 1 pinch sugar
- 1 pinch garlic powder (or fresh and chopped)
- 14 oz pasta
- oz burrata (or stracciatella)
Tools
- Pot
- Oven
- Stovetop
Preparation of pasta with eggplant pesto and burrata
You already know how to prepare the pesto, but we’ll repeat everything here.
Rinse the eggplant and cut it in half without removing the skin or stem.
Score the flesh with crosswise cuts. Drizzle with a little olive oil, season with salt and place on a baking dish. To make the confit tomatoes, rinse them and cut them in half, gather them in the same baking dish where you placed the eggplants and season with a little salt and a pinch of sugar, a sprinkle of oregano, a little garlic powder or chopped garlic and add 3–4 sprays of oil.
Cook in the air fryer at 356°F for about 20–25 minutes, checking occasionally (if you use the air fryer cook directly on the rack in the basket).
Alternatively, cook in a convection oven for 34–40 minutes, or cook 20 minutes in the microwave at 750 W and set the grill function for the next 10 minutes.
Once the eggplants and cherry tomatoes are cooked, you can proceed to prepare the pesto.
Remove the peel from the eggplants and collect the flesh in the blender jar, together with the cherry tomatoes, but remember to set a few aside for plating. Add the toasted almonds, basil, oil, cheese and blend everything until you obtain a creamy mixture.
Transfer the pesto to a shallow bowl or baking dish, thin with some of the pasta cooking water and mix. Toss the pasta with the pesto, plate and distribute the burrata (or the stracciatella directly on the pasta), together with the reserved cherry tomatoes. Garnish with fresh basil.
Storage notes and tips
With the amount of pesto indicated you could season about 2 lb (≈1 kg) of pasta, so if you have leftovers you can store it in the fridge for two days, well sealed in an airtight container.
Alternatively, you can portion it and freeze it to use as needed; consume within a few months.
Leftover pasta (it’s better not to have leftovers) should go in the fridge and to reheat it simply toss it in a nonstick pan.
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