Pasta almost alla Norma (draft)

It should be clear by now that I adapt recipes, so I don’t think I can call this a proper “Pasta alla Norma”. It is delicious though.

The original recipe calls for deep frying the eggplants, but I rarely want to do that so I just pan fry them in a little bit of olive oil.

Still in draft because I did not prepare this in a while and I am not sure I remember all the steps. I will update as soon as I make it again.

A note about the sauce

This pasta calls for tomato sauce. I tried two options:

1. Regular sauce
2. Fresh sauce made with heirloom tomatoes or any flavorful tomato.
3. It works well with pan fried tomatoes (recipe is a work in progress)

Option 1 is the one I use the most because finding flavorful tomatoes is not the easiest task.

Option 2 is the best if you have the time. I do it just by chopping tomatoes and cooking them in a pan with some olive oil, salt, and fresh basil.

Ingredients for 4-ish people

1. 1 big eggplant
2. tomato sauce (1 can or 1lb tomatoes)
3. garlic
4. black pepper (1/2 tsp)
5. red pepper (pinch)
6. pecorino romano, 80g

Protocol

1. Prepare the eggplant(s): cut it about in slices about 1/3 thick
2. Put them in a colander, in layer, with coarse salt between them
3. Let them drain for a couple of hours
4. Wash the salt off and pat them dry

5. The steps above are optional. When I don’t have much time I just cut the eggplants and use them right away and I did not notice much difference (maybe they fry better when drained)

6. Cut the eggplant in little cubes (maybe 1/3 of an inch)
7. Pan fry them with 2 tablespoons of oil and two garlic cloves
8. When they start being translucent put 1/4 cup of white wine and let it evaporate
9. Once they are well cooked put the tomato sauce and cook again for 15 minutes at medium
10. Serve with your favorite pasta and pecorino romano grated on top

Pictures

Pictures are not ready yet