Pasta Alla Norma (Pasta with Tomato Sauce and Eggplant)

By altschiller

Ingredients

• 1 medium eggplants, cut into 3/4″ cubes
• 7 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 medium onion, minced
• 1 tsp. crushed red chile flakes
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 28-oz. can whole peeled San Marzano tomatoes, undrained and crushed by hand
• 3 pieces cooked bacon, not too crisp, torn by hand
• 16 fresh basil leaves, torn by hand
• 1 lb. bucatini or spaghetti
• 4 oz. ricotta salata, grated

Details

Servings 4
Adapted from saveur.com

Preparation

Step 1

1. Heat oven to 500º. Put eggplant into a bowl and drizzle with 4 tbsp. oil. Toss to combine and season with salt and pepper. Transfer eggplant to 2 baking sheets and bake, turning occasionally, until soft and caramelized, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a rack; set aside.

2. Heat remaining oil in a 5-qt. pot over medium heat. Add onions and cook, stirring, until soft, about 10 minutes. Add chile flakes and garlic and cook, stirring, until garlic softens, about 3 minutes. Add tomatoes and half the basil, season with salt, and cook until heated through, about 5 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook, stirring occasionally, until just al dente, about 9 minutes. Drain pasta and transfer to tomato sauce. Stir in reserved eggplant and toss to combine. Stir in remaining basil and season with salt. To serve, transfer pasta to a platter and garnish with ricotta salata.

Very good. Ricotta salata, yes, is crucial, very distinctive. Only boring part was the thick bucatini, taking too much of the stage with little flavour. I'd go with thinner noodles, or whole wheat.

Very good work up of a classic S. Italian recipe. I was very recently in Italia and dined with a Sicilian friend who ordered this dish from the menu (Pasta alla Norma IS Siciliano/S.Italiano) with very slight variations worth mentioning: 1)they used penne which was perfect for the shapes/texture of the other ingredients in the dish; 2)instead of the basil, which IS classic but these days is also all too predictable, they used MINT and it was brilliant and awesome 3) used cherry tomatoes.

All else was pretty much the same maybe sans onion. This is a favorite pasta: I have made this recipe and the version I mention above and varied both and it is all good. The ricotta salata is a "must-do" element along with the eggplant; I have varied and combined the herbs (using fresh oregano/marjoram, too) and I suggest picking one and using it ; the mint was amazing, but mint with basil not so much so (in this recipe...) and I use so much basil I was glad to get into a different approach.

We grilled the eggplant, which made it rich and smokey. Otherwise, I made it according to the recipe, except I added a couple of tablespoons of Tassos Mediterranean olive salad, and used an angel hair pasta. Very Good!

Very tasty! Added some white wine to the sauce.

(Mixed Pasta with Cannellini Beans and Mussels)

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