Pasta alla norma

Two of my favorite Christmas gifts were a pasta maker and the cookbook "Simple" by Ottolenghi. Last night, I decided to put both to use and make "pasta alla norma" from the book. It's essentially eggplant and tomato sauce with herbs and cheese. Unfortunately, due to the snowstorm, Trader Joes was mobbed yesterday and they were out of a number of things including fresh basil and fresh oregano. I decided to roll with the punches and improvise with dried herbs. It tasted amazing! The homemade spaghetti really took it over the top. I am so excited to start experimenting with pasta making and cook more recipes from Simple :) I found an older (more complex) version of the pasta alla norma recipe and included it here. I am also including the newer recipe with my alterations below. Happy cooking!

Ingredients

~ 3 eggplants

~ 1/2 cup olive oil

~ salt and black pepper

~ 5 garlic cloves - thinly sliced (I used 3.5)

~ 1-2 mild dried chiles (I used a combination of smoked paprika and dried Chile flakes instead)

~ 14.5 oz canned whole peeled plum tomatoes with their juice (I chopped the tomatoes)

~ 5 large oregano springs (I used dried oregano)

~ 1 tsp sugar

~ 10oz spaghetti (I used homemade)

~ 1.5 oz mature pecorino romano

~ 1 cup basil leaves - torn (I used around 1tbsp dried)

Directions (my adaptation)

1. Preheat oven to 450 F

2. Using a peeler and working from top to bottom of each eggplant, shave off alternating strips of peel so they look striped. Cut crosswise into 1/2 inch slices and place in a bowl with 5tbsp oil, 3/4 tsp salt, and a generous grind of pepper. Mix well, then spread out on two large parchment-lined baking sheets. Roast for 30-35 mins until dark golden brown. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.

3. put 2 tbsp of oil into a large pan and place over medium high heat. Add garlic, paprika, and chile pepper, and fry 1-2 mins until garlic is golden brown. Add the tomatoes and their juice, oregano, sugar, 1/2 tsp salt, basil, and a grind of pepper. Decrease the heat and cook for 10 minutes, until sauce is thick. Chop eggplant and add to sauce. Set aside.

4. Cook spaghetti to al dente, strain, and add to the sauce. Add two thirds of the pecorino and a few tbsp of the pasta cooking water if the sauce has become too thick.

5. Serve and top with the remainder of the cheese and fresh basil if you have it!

#pasta #sauce #tomato #eggplant