Eggplant Pasta (Pasta Alla Norma)
We now move onto a dish revolving around the second vowel, E. Now, while I easily could’ve done an egg pasta, that simply felt too safe for me, so what I landed on was a classic Sicilian dish that puts a feature on a rather underrated vegetable here in America, Pasta alla norma, otherwise known as eggplant pasta.
Like many classic Italian dishes, pasta alla norma features simple flavors and ingredients such as eggplant, tomatoes, pasta, and often finished with ricotta salata, but done in a delicious way.
Now, classically the eggplant is fried before being tossed in the tomato sauce, but I wanted to do a slightly healthier version by roasting the eggplant. It will still deliver on the classic flavors, trust me.
Serves 4
2 small eggplants, top and bottom trimmed, split lengthwise, and cut into 1/2-inch thick half moons
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
3 large garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp chili flakes
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 (28oz) can crushed tomatoes
1 pound of any wide tubular pasta such as rigatoni or penne
Handful of fresh basil leaves, torn
2 oz ricotta salata, finely grated.*
*Ricotta salata is like a hard, salty version of ricotta. If you can find it, awesome, if not, than grated Pecorino or Parmesan would do just fine.
Preheat the oven to 425 F/220 C and bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
Toss the sliced eggplant with olive oil, salt and pepper, then spread out into an even layer on a foil-lined baking sheet. Roast the eggplant for 20-25 minutes, stirring halfway through, until the eggplant is well browned all over.
While the eggplant cooks, heat some more olive oil in a medium saucepan along with the garlic, oregano, chili flakes, and a pinch of salt until the garlic starts sizzling. Let that all cook together, stirring frequently, for about a minute, being careful not to let the garlic burn, then add the tomato paste and cook a minute longer. Add the crushed tomatoes, bring that to a boil, then let it simmer for 20 minutes, or until the sauce thickens.
Once the water is boiling, add the pasta and cook about 7-9 minutes, or until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water, then drain.
Once the sauce has thickened, season with salt and pepper to taste, then stir in the roasted eggplant and pasta and cook for about a minute longer.
Loosen the sauce with pasta water if needed, then serve, topping with torn basil leaves and the grated ricotta salata.
