Pasta alla Norma, one of my favourite dinners, is a traditional Italian pasta made with eggplant in a tomato sauce. This is a dish that shows you by using a few simple ingredients you can make a spectacular dish.
These sorts of pastas I cook to balance out other more expensive dishes I make. As the price of meat is crazy expensive where I live, I try to make a few midweek meals like this, where you are completely satisfied, it's not expensive, it's delicious and you don't miss the meat.
I love eggplant, it is one of my favourite vegetables, it's hearty, it's like a sponge it takes on flavours so well. But frying the eggplant is time consuming, here I bake the eggplant, which makes this dish so much easier and less time consuming to make. While the eggplant is baking, you get on with the sauce. The eggplant can be made in advance, just be careful doing this, as I eat it while it's cooling.
Use any pasta you like, long or short, I used spaghetti, but you can use, penne, casarecce, linguine.
This is a simple yet delicious dinner idea, you just need to try.
These sorts of pastas I cook to balance out other more expensive dishes I make. As the price of meat is crazy expensive where I live, I try to make a few midweek meals like this, where you are completely satisfied, it's not expensive, it's delicious and you don't miss the meat.
I love eggplant, it is one of my favourite vegetables, it's hearty, it's like a sponge it takes on flavours so well. But frying the eggplant is time consuming, here I bake the eggplant, which makes this dish so much easier and less time consuming to make. While the eggplant is baking, you get on with the sauce. The eggplant can be made in advance, just be careful doing this, as I eat it while it's cooling.
Use any pasta you like, long or short, I used spaghetti, but you can use, penne, casarecce, linguine.
This is a simple yet delicious dinner idea, you just need to try.
Recipe
Recipe adapted from www.recipetineats.com/
Serves 4
800g eggplant, about 2 large ones, cut into 2.5cm cubes
2-3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/2 small onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup dry white wine
700g tomato passata
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon dried Italian herbs
1 teaspoon red chilli flakes, optional, to taste
1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper
300g spaghetti or other pasta, long or short
1/2 cup basil leaves, roughly torn
Parmesan cheese, grated
Preheat oven to 240°C/220C° fan forced. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
Toss the eggplant with oil, salt and pepper. Spread on the tray and roast for 20 minutes.
Flip, then roast for a further 5 minutes. Cool on tray (this helps the eggplant hold its shape when tossing).
Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil. Start cooking the pasta when you have about 10 minutes left in the sauce cooking time, until al dente or to your liking.
Heat oil in a very large frying pan over medium heat. Add add onion and cook for 2-3 minutes, add garlic, sauté a further minute or until the onion is translucent and cooked through.
Increase heat to medium-high and add wine. Let it simmer, scraping the base of the pan to deglaze, until the wine mostly evaporates.
Add tomato passata. Now pour the water into the passata bottle, screw on the lid, shake, and pour that in too, waste nothing!
Add dried herbs, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Stir and simmer 15 minutes.
Stir in eggplant, add basil, bring back to the simmer, simmer for 5 minutes, then add cooked and drained pasta. Toss until pasta is coated in the sauce (so the eggplant doesn't turn into complete mush!).
Serve immediately, garnished with extra fresh basil and parmesan.
Serves 4
800g eggplant, about 2 large ones, cut into 2.5cm cubes
2-3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/2 small onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup dry white wine
700g tomato passata
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon dried Italian herbs
1 teaspoon red chilli flakes, optional, to taste
1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper
300g spaghetti or other pasta, long or short
1/2 cup basil leaves, roughly torn
Parmesan cheese, grated
Preheat oven to 240°C/220C° fan forced. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
Toss the eggplant with oil, salt and pepper. Spread on the tray and roast for 20 minutes.
Flip, then roast for a further 5 minutes. Cool on tray (this helps the eggplant hold its shape when tossing).
Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil. Start cooking the pasta when you have about 10 minutes left in the sauce cooking time, until al dente or to your liking.
Heat oil in a very large frying pan over medium heat. Add add onion and cook for 2-3 minutes, add garlic, sauté a further minute or until the onion is translucent and cooked through.
Increase heat to medium-high and add wine. Let it simmer, scraping the base of the pan to deglaze, until the wine mostly evaporates.
Add tomato passata. Now pour the water into the passata bottle, screw on the lid, shake, and pour that in too, waste nothing!
Add dried herbs, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Stir and simmer 15 minutes.
Stir in eggplant, add basil, bring back to the simmer, simmer for 5 minutes, then add cooked and drained pasta. Toss until pasta is coated in the sauce (so the eggplant doesn't turn into complete mush!).
Serve immediately, garnished with extra fresh basil and parmesan.
Enjoy!
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Pin it: www.pinterest.com.au/pin/399413060713912635/
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