Four Nights A Week

This past spring, Adrien and I were privileged to travel to the land of my ancestors – Sicily. Sicily is such a marvelously complex mix of cultures, but one of the most striking things about it is the food. Sicilians take the abundance of the land and sea and create some of the most wonderful things ever imagined.

Pasta alla Norma is just one of those dishes. Eggplant, tomatoes, ricotta and pasta all co-mingled into a dish that, if you were not before, will make you an eggplant-lover.

The origins of this recipe come from Fabrizia Lanza‘s The Food of Sicily, but the preparations have been adapted by cookbook author, reknowned pasty chef and ex-pat, David Lebovitz. David published his version of Fabrizia Lanza’s recipe, which differs only slightly in that the eggplant is baked, not deep-fried.

When our Clark Farm CSA included eggplant last week, I knew exactly what we were going to do! The recipe, as adapted by David Lebovitz, is linked below, the ingredient list follows, but to dive deeply into authentic Sicilian cooking, I highly recommend Fabrizia Lanza’s book.

Pasta all Norma as adapted by David Lebovitz

• Eggplant (will need about 2 lbs)
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• Dried chile flakes
• Tomato sauce (pre-made Marinara works well here – or make your own)
• Tomato paste
• Dried tubular pasta, such as rigatoni or ziti
• Ricotta salata cheese, grated, plus more for serving
• Fresh basil