Enjoy this delicious Sicilian dish with my own twist
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Baking time: 25 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes
Ingredients (for 4-6 servings):
2 medium eggplants
1 red onion
2 medium tomatoes
1 can of chopped tomatoes (14 oz. or 400g)
5-6 tbsp olive oil
½ tsp chili flakes
3-4 tsp dried oregano
A handful of fresh basil leaves
Salt and pepper to taste
Penne pasta (but any other type would be fine as well)
4 tbsp crushed ricotta cheese or grated Grana Padano cheese
2 red bell peppers (optional)
Instructions:
1. Wash and dice 2 eggplants into small cubes
2. Pour 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil into a bowl, add the diced eggplants, sprinkle with salt and pepper and mix everything thoroughly
3. Place the eggplant pieces on a baking tray covered with baking paper and spread them evenly
4. I also cut the pepper into small cubes and put it on the baking sheet together with the eggplant, but it wasn’t the best idea
5. Preheat oven to 425°F (220°C)
6. Bake the sliced eggplant (and peppers) for 20-25 minutes
7. In the meantime, peel and finely chop 1 red onion
8. Blanch, peel and finely dice 2 medium tomatoes. Transfer the tomato pieces to a separate bowl
9. Pour 2 tablespoons of oil into the pot or a deep frying pan and turn on the heat
10. Put the chopped onion into the pot, add ½ teaspoon of chili flakes and fry and sauté everything until the onion gets lightly browned
11. Put the chopped tomatoes into the pot and add 3-4 teaspoons of dried oregano
12. Mix everything thoroughly and simmer for about 5 minutes
13. Add 1 can of chopped tomatoes, mix everything and simmer covered for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally
14. In the meantime, start cooking the pasta
15. Remove the baked vegetable pieces from the oven and carefully transfer them to the pot with the sauce
16. Add salt to taste and mix everything
17. Also add a handful of fresh, finely chopped basil leaves
18. Cook and drain the pasta
19. Add about 4 tablespoons of grated cheese. I used Grana Padano, it actually should be ricotta
20. Season to taste and turn off the heat
21. Serve the sauce with pasta
22. Enjoy your meal!
23. The sauce turned out good, but I don’t recommend adding peppers because of their tough skins
♫ Pasta alla Norma with my own twist
Pasta alla Norma with my own twist
Baked some peppers with the ‘plant
Thought it’d level up my chant
Skins like vinyl, wouldn’t quit
Chewed for hours — tasted… grit
No ricotta found
Grana’s what I crowned
Maybe I was brave
Maybe I’m depraved
This ain’t how it’s meant to be
Norma’s ghost is mad at me
Italy revoked my pass
Grana made it kind of… class?
Scraped the peppers off my plate
Even dogs said “nah, I’ll wait”
Eggplant did its best
Grana did the rest
Chef in theory, yes
Execution? It’s a mess
This ain’t how it’s meant to be
Norma’s ghost is mad at me
I still ate it all with pride
Peppers tough, but tears I hide ♫
♫ Pasta alla Norma with my own twist Pasta alla Norma with my own twist Baked some peppers with the ‘plant Thought it’d level up my chant Skins like vinyl, wouldn’t quit Chewed for hours — tasted… grit No ricotta found Grana’s what I crowned Maybe I was brave Maybe I’m depraved This ain’t how it’s meant to be Norma’s ghost is mad at me Italy revoked my pass Grana made it kind of… class? Scraped the peppers off my plate Even dogs said “nah, I’ll wait” Eggplant did its best Grana did the rest Chef in theory, yes Execution? It’s a mess This ain’t how it’s meant to be ♫