Sicilian Eggplant Pasta
October, 2020
I was inspired by my recent trip to Sicily to recreate this pasta dish I ate many times. In Italy this is known as Pasta alla Norma. A super easy dish featuring one of my favourite vegetables.
Sicilian Eggplant Pasta
Serves 3-4
Ingredients
2 eggplants, sliced and cut into 2cm chunks
Salt
Extra virgin olive oil
400g tin chopped tomatoes
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tsp chilli flakes
1 tbs red wine vinegar
10 basil leaves
200g rocket, washed
200g ricotta cheese
Pasta of choice (approx 75g per serve)
Method
Place eggplant in a large mixing bowl and sprinkle with salt. Tossing to coat then leave for 30 minutes to remove the moisture
Once ready, rinse the salt off and pat dry between a tea towel
Pour 1 tbs oil in a large fry pan and cook half the eggplant on medium-high heat for 5 minutes until brown
Repeat with remaining eggplant with an extra 1 tbs oil
In a seperate large fry pan cook the onion on low heat in 2 tsp oil until brown
Add the tomato, vinegar, chilli and basil and bring to medium heat to thicken for approximately 5 minutes
While the sauce is thickening, cook your pasta as per instructions on the packet
Once the sauce has thickened stir through the eggplant and season with pepper
To serve, add rocket to the bottom of a bowl, layer with the the eggplant pasta and dollop with ricotta cheese