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It's summer time so it's time for easy, fast and flavorful recipes. Today we take a little trip in sunny Sicily, from where we have this wonderful recipe for pasta. "Pasta a la Norma" or "Spaghetti a la Norma" is one of the traditional Sicilian recipes, with which the locals manage to express hospitality. The Sicilian cuisine charm is that it captures the simple, economical, but perfectly balanced combinations.
Because summer is the eggplants' season, I suggest you try this recipe for pasta with eggplant, Sicilian-style, to discover an authentic and very smooth flavor.
Ingredients:
-Pasta (preferably Italian)
-Virgin olive oil
-1-2 eggplants (depending on how much pasta you want)
-Garlic
-Green basil
-Mashed tomatoes (fresh, if you do not have, canned tomatoes will do)
Boil pasta "al dente". Drain and rinse with cold water. I used colorful Italian pasta of various shapes and colors, made in Italy, with natural colors and flavors (tomato, spinach, turmeric, pepper, eggplant). The combination of multi-colored pasta with perfumed sauce and flavored eggplant was a real delight.
Cut the eggplants in 0.5-1 cm slices and add salt. Allow 30 minutes to drain in a colander. Then rinse and squeeze the excess water.
Fry the eggplant slices in very little olive oil, along with a few slices of garlic. Garlic will flavor the olive oil and the eggplants will borrow a discreet aroma of garlic. Roasting is done at medium heat a few minutes on each side, just enough to brown.
Remove the eggplant slices on a paper towel to drain the excess oil. Sprinkle salt on the already fried eggplants.
After you have finished frying all the eggplant slices, prepare the sauce. If you have fresh tomatoes, put them in boiled water, peel them and chop them finely.
In a clean pan put 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil, heat the oil over low to medium heat. Add the 3-4 sliced garlic cloves and 2-3 tablespoons of chopped fresh basil.
Stir a few times to let the spices flavor the oil. When you feel a garlic and basil aroma rising, then it's time to put the chopped tomatoes and their juice (or a box of "passata di pomodoro"). Add a pinch of salt and possibly a little black pepper.
Let it boil for 3-5 minutes until the sauce binds. Then add the cooked and cooled pasta.
Let the pasta boil in the sauce for 3 minutes. Then add the fried eggplants. Keep some eggplants for decoration.
After boiling a little, the pasta is ready.
Finally, add the chopped basil to taste.
Serve warm and decorate the plate with slices of eggplant and fresh basil bouquets. You can add a few slices of garlic, if you want it spicier.
Eggplants with garlic are delicious and the tomato sauce mix with the fresh basil makes them easily digestible.
The recipe is simple, ready in 15 minutes and super appetizing.
Italians do not serve huge portions of pasta; they feed their appetite by varied recipes, always focusing on quality of the ingredients, on the fantasy of the presentation and flavor combination.
I wish you "good appetite"!
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