Baked Eggplant and Potatoes with Tomato Sauce is a perfect example of ‘cucina povera’. Just a few fresh ingredients come together to make a savoury side dish or main dish served with fresh crusty bread to mop up the juices!
Baked Eggplant and Potatoes with Tomato Sauce is a simple, peasant food dish made with few, fresh ingredients and is incredibly flavorful. The perfect meal to make at this time of year when your garden is overflowing with ripe tomatoes and eggplant. Or, of course, you can also head over to your local farmer’s market if you don’t have a garden!
My mother often prepared this eggplant and potato recipe during the summer with vegetables from my father’s garden. However, I really didn’t find this dish appealing when I was younger. With time I’ve learned to appreciate the simplicity of such dishes (and many other of my mom’s recipes) that lie in the freshness of the ingredients that come together to create a satisfying meal. That is what Italian cooking is all about.
The eggplant is without a doubt the star in many Sicilian recipes. Here are a few of my other favorite eggplant dishes that I’ve shared with you throughout the years!
- Eggplant Caponata
- Pasta alla Norma
- Eggplant Involtini with Maccaruna
- Crispy Baked Eggplant Cutlets
- Eggplant Involtini with Ricotta Spinach Filling
- Stuffed Baby Eggplant
- Stuffed Eggplant and Peppers in Tomato Sauce
- Italian Pickled Eggplant
Step by Step Instructions:
Prepare the eggplant: cut into 1/4 inch rounds (I keep the peel on); place on paper towel covered sheet pans and salt both sides. Let sit for 30 minutes, then rinse and pat dry. Place on parchment covered sheet pans and coat both sides generously with olive oil. Salt lightly and bake for 25 minutes flipping halfway through.
Bake the potatoes: slice peeled potatoes into 1/4 inch thick slices. Place on 2 parchment paper covered sheet pans, coat both sides with olive oil and salt lightly. Bake until tender, about 25 minutes, and set aside.
Prepare the tomato sauce: while the eggplant is baking, dice the tomatoes. Heat olive oil in a large skillet, add tomatoes, a crushed garlic clove and salt, to taste. Simmer for about 10 minutes.
Assemble the dish: add the baked potato and eggplant slices to the tomato sauce. Stir gently to coat the vegetables in the tomato sauce and cook for an additional 10 minutes. Add freshly chopped basil and drizzle with olive oil at the end of cooking. Adjust seasoning if necessary.
How to serve this dish:
When adding the potato and eggplant slices to the tomato sauce, they may break apart. That’s fine because when you’re eating it you want to have chunks of tomatoes, potatoes and eggplant in every bite, and this is definitely not a fancy looking dish!
This eggplant and potato bake can be served hot or even at room temperature. It is almost better if you allow it to sit for a while before serving. All you’ll need is fresh, crusty bread to mop up the tomato sauce at the bottom of your plate to enjoy as a main dish. Or if you prefer, serve it as a side dish with grilled meat.
Tips and suggestions:
- During the summer months I prefer using whole tomatoes from my garden which I do not peel. If you prefer yours without the peel, score tomatoes with a sharp knife. Then blanch in boiling water for a minute. When they are cool enough to handle, peel off the skin and dice.
- If you don’t have fresh tomatoes available replace them with canned whole plum tomatoes which are already peeled.
- I use Italian eggplant, as shown in the image above, but any type of eggplant will do.
- Peppers may also be added. On a separate sheet pan, roast sliced peppers until tender and the skin shrivels. In the final step of the recipe, stir the peppers into the tomato sauce in the pan along with the eggplant and potatoes.
- Add a little kick to the dish by tossing some red pepper flakes to the tomatoes.
Let me know how much you enjoy this dish by tagging me with your photos with #manigabedda or @mangiabedda on Facebook or Instagram. Feel free to Pin the recipe for later. Buon appetito!
Ingredients
- 1 large eggplant 1.5 lb
- 4 large potatoes 2 lbs
- 4 large tomatoes 2 lbs
- plenty of olive oil
- 1 garlic clove crushed
- a few fresh basil leaves
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Peel and cut potatoes into 1/4 inch thick slices. Place on baking sheet, brush both sides with olive oil and salt lightly. Bake for 25 minutes, flipping slices halfway. Set aside.
- Meanwhile, prepare the eggplant. Slice into 1/4 inch thick rounds. Place on baking sheets covered in paper towels and lightly salt both sides. Let sit for 30 minutes. Rinse and pat dry the eggplant with a paper towel.
- Place the eggplant slices on 2 baking sheets covered in parchment paper. Brush both sides with olive oil and salt lightly. Bake for 25 minutes and flip halfway through.
- While the eggplant bakes, dice the tomatoes. Place in a large skillet and bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Add the crushed garlic clove and salt to taste.
- Add the baked potato and eggplant slices to the tomato sauce. Stir gently to coat the vegetables in the tomato sauce and cook for an additional 10 minutes. Add freshly chopped basil and drizzle with olive oil at the end of cooking. Adjust seasoning if necessary.
Notes
- During the summer months I prefer using whole tomatoes from my garden which I do not peel. If you prefer yours without the peel, score tomatoes with a sharp knife. Then blanch in boiling water for a minute. When they are cool enough to handle, peel off the skin and dice.
- If you don't have fresh tomatoes available replace them with canned whole plum tomatoes which are already peeled.
- I use Italian eggplant, as shown in the image above, but any type of eggplant will do.
- Peppers may also be added. On a separate sheet pan, roast sliced peppers until tender and the skin shrivels. In the final step of the recipe, stir the peppers into the tomato sauce in the pan along with the eggplant and potatoes.
- Add a little kick to the dish by tossing some red pepper flakes to the tomatoes.
- Please note that the nutritional information offered is approximate and may vary according to exact portion size and ingredients used.
Due to an accidental overplanting of eggplant I have had more than I use or give away this summer. Last night at a 60th birthday celebration catered by an Italian catering couple I tasted some pickled eggplant and I loved it. Today I searched the internet and yours is the first recipe that came. While my eggplant crop have sadly got some bugs in them now I’m hoping there are enough good ones left or that I can cut around the bugs and make this recipe this afternoon. I’m a bit excited. Thank you
Hello Susan, lucky you! I planted a few last summer without success. I do hope you enjoy it, let me know how it turns out!
Hi Nadia, You had a video on U-TUBE making a 3 ingredients meal ( who needs meat) and it looked so,so good. It had 8 potatoes, 3 egg plant and I didn`t get the 3rd. ingredient. I looked for the recipe on your web page but i couldn`t find it. I would love to make it . Thank you..
Hi Shelby, unfortunately I’m not certain which one you’re referring to. I can’t seem to find one with eggplant. Do you perhaps mean the gnocchi video? Perhaps you can send me a link for the one you saw. Thanks!
I was desperate to find some way to use up some of our huge bounty of tomatoes and yet another eggplant from my garden and this recipe was the perfect solution! Some things I did differently: Since it’s summer, I fired up the bbq and grilled the eggplant slices instead of baking them (tip from another site: I now brine my eggplant before grilling. That’s my goto eggplant prep method now!) The grill adds *so* much flavor, and I saved time by cooking the eggplant and potatoes (in the oven) simultaneously. I also upped the heat on the potatoes (I had baby potatoes so the slices were bite-sized) to develop serious flavor there too (extras I didn’t put in the recipe will make for a decadent snack!) Had a pepper that needed to be eaten, so also grilled that on the bbq while I was at it. Great addition–adds another layer of flavor. Best of all, other than the pepper, EVERYTHING came from the garden. I didn’t have basil so I used oregano and thyme. What a lovely, simple, FRESH, wholesome, and delicious way to use fresh home-grown ingredients. So satisfying and rewarding 😊
Hello Kim, all I can say is wow! I do like it when readers personalize my recipes to their liking and you certainly did that well. I can totally understand the pride you feel about having used everything from your garden to make this dish. I am quite proud of my garden as well. Thanks for sharing your modifications with me, enjoy!
Nadia, I do feel great pride! I’ve never grown a garden quite as diverse as what I have this year (one of the positive outcomes of having to work from home during this time). I’m having a lot of fun tracking down recipes as things ripen. My trick is to Google the main ingredients I have and see what pops up. That’s how I found your recipe and knew immediately it was a winner! I bookmarked another of your eggplant recipes–I have 5 more fruit on 2 plants at the moment, and lots more flowers in bloom! I hope I don’t get sick of eggplant, haha. I guess I can always make baba ganoush!
Hi Kim, I totally understand the pride you feel in cooking an entire dish with only produce from your own garden! I too Google ingredients in order to be inspired and try out new recipes. Enjoy your eggplant as there are so many diverse ways to cook with them. Ciao!
it says to heat over to 350C, but I can’t imagine that means 350 celcius! Is it just a misprint? I am about to try this, and I plan to cook it at 350…. farenheit. I hope that’s hot enough!
Hello Sarah, that is definitely a typo and should read 350F. Sorry about that and thanks for pointing it out, I’ll correct it right away. Enjoy!
I make your recipe when I am entertaining every time. Delicious.
Thank you muchly.
Hi Lydia, I’m so glad you enjoy this recipe. It’s so simple yet so flavorful. Thanks for letting me know!
Looks delicious!
Thanks Léa!