Pasta alla Norma - Eggplant and Tomato Sauce Pasta
This recipe uses celery and carrots which gives this recipe deep flavor that the classic Pasta alla Norma lacks. Enjoy!
Equipment
- 1 sheet pan
- 1 large frying pan
- 1 large pot for boiling pasta
Ingredients
- 1 standard pack of soaghetti use gluten free if necessary
- 3 medium eggplants
- 3 medium carrots
- 2 large celery sticks if your celery is small, use 3-4 sticks
- 1 medium yellow onion
- 3 garlic cloves
- 3 medium tomatoes fresh
- 2½ cups chicken broth use boullion cube dissolved in water if don't have broth
- 2½ cups (500 ml) tomato passata
- 2 teaspoon dried basil
- 2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 bay leaves
- salt and pepper to taste
- fresh basil for serving
- grated cheese for serving
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400F/200C. Chop the eggplant into 1-inch cubes and spread onto a sheet pan. Sprinkle salt and pepper over the eggplant along with some olive oil. Rub the eggplant so that the oil spreads evenly. No need to let the eggplant “sweat” here! Just pop it into the oven and let it bake for 20 minutes. Flip the eggplant with a spatula and return to the oven for another 5 minutes. Take the eggplant out and set it aside.
- While the eggplant is baking, preheat a frying pan on a medium heat setting. Chop the onion into small pieces, then do the same with carrots and celery. Add some oil to the frying pan and fry the onions for a few minutes until translucent. Then, add chopped carrots and celery and let them fry for a few minutes. You can bring the fire a bit up so that the veggies brown a bit. Browning adds more flavor to the dish! Add chopped garlic and season with some salt and pepper.
- Chop your fresh tomatoes into small pieces and add them to the pan with mirepoix (onion, celery, and carrots). Then, add 2 ½ cups of chicken stock to the pan and let the veggies simmer on high heat for 5-10 minutes until most of the chicken stock evaporates. Finally, add the tomato passata (sieved tomatoes).
- Add the dried basil, oregano, bay leaves, and some more salt and pepper. Let the sauce simmer on medium-high heat for 15 minutes. After that fold in the eggplant. If you cool your eggplant first, then it won’t get as mushy, however, you can incorporate it hot as well (if you are impatient like I am!).
- Boil the preferred amount of pasta. You need to boil your pasta on a rolling boil for about 11 minutes. To be sure you can taste your pasta after 11 minutes and turn the heat off or give it a few more minutes to soften more. Strain the water and mix the pasta into the eggplant sauce. Serve with some fresh basil and grated cheese to maximize the experience!
Notes
- If you want your eggplant to be drier you can salt it after cutting it into small cubes and place it into a strainer for about 20-30 minutes. The salt will draw the extra liquid out from the eggplant and you will get drier results with less mush.
- Use good quality tomato paste. There are some brands that offer cheap tomato passata but oftentimes the product had a lot of added water and is very liquid. You may use that but you will get better flavors if you go for a rather thicker type.
- Don’t skip the fresh basil! You will be surprised how much difference that one ingredient makes.
- Use Parmesan cheese for the best flavor.
- If you don’t have chicken or vegetable stock you can use a bouillon cube instead. You will need 1 bouillon cube for 2 ½ cups of water. You can add more if you prefer.
- Salt as you go. If you add all of your salt at the end the sauce will have a saltier taste than if you let the salt cook into the dish as you go.
- Let the eggplant cool before adding it to the sauce as it will be easier to get them off the sheet pan without them breaking apart.
- To get even creamier eggplant pasta try soaking the eggplant in milk overnight. This will make your eggplant creamy, and tender, and will rid it of any bitter taste it might have.
- You can experiment and try adding zucchini, sausage, cherry tomatoes, spinach, fresh mozzarella, or ricotta to your dish!
- If you prefer your eggplant pasta spicy, add some cayenne pepper during cooking.
Nutrition
Serving: 1portionCalories: 329kcalCarbohydrates: 62.1gProtein: 14.8gFat: 3.4gSaturated Fat: 0.8gCholesterol: 54mgSodium: 414mgPotassium: 1015mgFiber: 11.1gSugar: 13gCalcium: 202mgIron: 4mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!