Skinny Eggplant Parmesan Pasta

This skinny eggplant parmesan pasta is a flavorful, light twist on an all-time favorite. Eggplants are roasted until tender and tossed with pasta smothered with flavourful sun-dried tomato pesto. This lovely pasta dish is light, vegetarian and gluten-free.

After a weekend of grilling, the week has to start off with a healthy vegetarian pasta! So are you a fan of Eggplant Parmesan pasta? Have you tried making it healthier, lighter or just more appealing to healthy people in your life?

I once had a request for a cooking class, it was a special Italian dinner where the group wanted to make pasta from scratch and many Italian classics from scratch— but it had to be light and healthy.

They were willing to cook/bake/chop/do anything required to make the event a success. So when the cooking school contacted me—this recipe for Skinny Eggplant Parmesan Pasta came to mind as a must-have on the menu!

Why this recipe for Skinny Eggplant Parmesan Pasta works: 

I think my husband can qualify as the number one fan of this skinny eggplant Parmesan pasta —but then again he is a fan of anything eggplant.

I am a fan of this recipe for many reasons: It’s CRAZY DELICIOUS, and I love the light feel and fresh taste here compared to the heavy saucy version.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I have my naughty days but I can only enjoy a tiny portion of it before I start feeling heavy. This recipe, however, is different. Trust me, I will lick my plate clean!

And while we’re still on this topic—have you checked my step by step skinny grilled chicken Parmesan recipe? It happens to be one of the most popular recipes on the blog!

So back to the light Italian cooking event, I ended up going with this skinny eggplant Parmesan pasta as part of the menu. Everyone was anxious to taste the difference, and mostly anxious to to see if this recipe will offer the same comfort they expect from a classic eggplant Parmesan.

After much anticipation on their end (and quite honestly some stress on my end—hoping to deliver), the skinny eggplant parmesan pasta was declared a WINNER!!

How to make Skinny Eggplant Parmesan Pasta: 

Now I’ll walk you through tiny tips and tricks why this recipe is indeed a winner! So it starts with roasting eggplant slices.

If you’re used to the melt in your mouth, utterly sweet taste of fried eggplants—you’ll have quite a bit of time adjusting to the taste and texture of roasted eggplant slices.

So to avoid this and get the same results as frying, we roast the eggplant slices while covered. This produces ultra soft melt in your mouth eggplant slices that also cook much faster!! So it’s a win win situation!

The sun dried tomato pesto is one of my favorite additions here. I am tweaking my recipe by actually doubling the amount of sun-dried tomatoes and adding tablespoons of canned crushed Roma tomatoes.

This produces an incredible boost of tomato flavor that’s much needed for this eggplant parmesan pasta recipe. Basically, after the eggplants are roasted , the pasta is cooked and pesto is zipped up in a food processor for 3 mins.

Everything is tossed together and served with a decent sprinkling Parmesan cheese on top (take this out if Vegan).

Now go ahead, indulge and spare 20 mins for a fabulous healthy pasta twist on Italian Eggplant Parmesan!

Tips for success: 

• I used fettuccine for this recipe but linguine would work just as well.
• Make this vegan by skipping the parmesan.
• Add extra walnut pieces for crunch (optional).

5 from 3 votes

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Skinny Eggplant Parmesan Pasta

This skinny eggplant parmesan pasta is a flavorful, light twist on an all-time favorite. The eggplant is roasted until tender, then tossed with pasta smothered with flavourful sun-dried tomato pesto. This lovely pasta dish is light, vegetarian and gluten-free.

Course dinner, lunch, Main Course

Cuisine American, Italian

Keyword eggplant parmesan, pasta with eggplants, skinny eggplant parmiggiano

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Servings 4 people

Calories 515 kcal

Author Mahy

Ingredients

• 4 large Japanese eggplants sliced into 1/4 inch slices totalling to 6 cups
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 pinch black pepper
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

For the sun-dried tomato pesto

• 1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons crushed canned tomatoes
• 1 lb fettuccine or your favorite pasta (gluten free if needed)
• Parmesan cheese for sprinkling (optional)
• chopped walnuts for sprinkling (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Place the eggplant slices in a single layer on a parchment lined baking sheet and season them with salt, pepper, oregano and a drizzle of olive oil.

2. Cover the baking sheet with foil entirely and place in the oven to cook for 15-20 mins (depending on the thickness of your eggplant slices).
3. In the meantime, if your pesto is ready, place it in a food processor and add in the extra tomatoes. If not, then place all the sun-dried tomato pesto ingredients in a food processor with extra tomatoes and process until smooth.
4. Cook the pasta according to package instructions and save some of the pasta water ( the water where the pasta was cooked—like in this sun-dried mins Greek tortellini).
5. When the eggplant is ready, toss the pasta with the pesto and add in some pasta water 2 tablespoons at a time to lose up the pesto and form a sauce (as thick or thin as you like). Then toss in the eggplants. sprinkle some Parmesan and walnuts (optional) and serve.

Recipe Notes

• I used fettuccine for this recipe but linguine would work just as well.
• Make this vegan by skipping the parmesan.
• Add extra walnut pieces for crunch (optional).

Nutrition Facts

Skinny Eggplant Parmesan Pasta

Amount Per Serving (1 serving)

Calories 515 Calories from Fat 108

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 12g 18%

Saturated Fat 2g 10%

Cholesterol 95mg 32%

Sodium 186mg 8%

Potassium 512mg 15%

Total Carbohydrates 84g 28%

Dietary Fiber 4g 16%

Sugars 4g

Protein 17g 34%

Vitamin A 2.6%

Vitamin C 3.3%

Calcium 4.7%

Iron 15.4%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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