Participation to ‘A to Z recipe challenge’ provokes to think about recipes which are off-beat, not exactly run-of-the-mill and thus interesting. This time around, the challenge is to prepare a dish with key ingredient starting with the letter ‘E’. Eggplant comes naturally to mind which I thought to use in Pasta. And the pasta has to be ‘Pasta alla Norma’, a typical Sicilian cuisine, coming from southernmost part of Italy. The original recipe is prescribed to be made with macaroni, tomatoes, ricotta salata cheese, fresh basil leaves along with fried egg plants. I could find neither ricotta not fresh basil easily and replaced them with the dried basil and local cheese, without much ado. And I have used ‘penne’ as well. The result is yummy creamy Pasta all Norma with the Italian job accomplished.
Ingredients to serve 2 :
- Dried penne – 175 gm.
- Ripe tomato – 400 gm.
- Eggplant – 300 gm.
- Garlic (finely chopped) – 2 cloves
- Dry basil – 1 tbspoon
- Dry oregano – ½ tbspoon (optional)
- Red chilli flake – ½ tbspoon (optional)
- Grated cheese – 100 gm.
- Salt to taste
- Olive oil – 2 tbspoon
- Refined oil – 4-5 tbspoon
Procedure :
Wash the eggplant and cut into moderately thin round slices. Coat both sides of the eggplant slices with salt and keep aside for 15-20 minutes. After that using a kitchen tissue paper soak the water released by the eggplant slices and dry them completely. Now cut the round slices into thin long pieces as shown in the picture below.
Wash the tomatoes and dip them into sufficient amount of boiling water for 1-2 minutes. Then transfer them into a bowl full of cold water. As the tomatoes get cool peel off their skin and chop into small pieces.
Heat refined oil in a kadai and fry the eggplant pieces till golden brown. Remove them from kadai and keep aside.
Now add olive oil in the kadai and let it warm.
Add chopped garlic and fry till it starts changing colour.
Now add chopped tomato and dried basil. Add salt to the mixture as per your taste. Cook the mixture for 40-45 minutes till the tomato gets mushy. Then add dried oregano, chilli flakes, ¾ of the grated cheese and ¾ of the fried egg plant, give them a good stir.
Meanwhile, bring a large, heavy-based saucepan of lightly salted water to the boil. Add the pasta, return to the boil and cook for 8-10 minutes, or until tender but still firm to the bite. Drain the pasta well and add to the tomato and eggplant sauce.
Cook for 3 minutes, then transfer to a serving dis.
Garnish the pasta with remaining fried eggplant and grated cheese.
Serve hot.
Tasty Eats Ronit Penso
Such a delicious dish. 🙂
Jayeeta
Thank you 🙂
Pasta alla Norma (Pasta with Eggplant, Basil & Tomato sauce) | homethoughtsfromabroad626
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Shobha Keshwani
Oh wow.. this is so good. I am loving it.The eggplant with pasta combo !
Jayeeta
Thank you so much, Shobha….. 🙂
Jyo
Pasta is always irresistible 😋
Jayeeta
Very true 😀
The Girl Next Door
What an innovative recipe! I have never had pasta with eggplants before. Looks so delicious and inviting! 🙂
Jayeeta
Thanks Priya 🙂
I also tried eggplant in pasta for the first time and the outcome was satisfactory…. 🙂
Renu Agrawal Dongre
Looks delicious and yum, I love eggplants in Italian cooking and this is one such tempting dish
Jayeeta
Thank you, Renu……I completely agree with you…..Eggplants go really well with Italian dishes…
Deeksha Pathak
Everyone’s favorite dish pasta!!! Loved your combo with eggplant!
Jayeeta
Thanks, Dear……I tried the combo for the first time and I was not sure about the outcome. However, it was delicious 🙂
Deeksha Pathak
Great!!
Jyo
I tried this recipe…it was too good as my girl loves both pasta and eggplant 👍 really a crowd pleaser 👍
Jayeeta
That’s great……..you tried the recipe and loved it….. 🙂
Jyo
But tweaked as per our taste😊
Jayeeta
I am willing to know the revised version…. 🙂
Sandhya Ramakrishnan
That is a classic Italian dish and you have made it beautifully. Perfect recipe for pasta and eggplant lover and that would be my family.
Jayeeta
Thank you so much, Sandhya……. 🙂
JollyHomemadeRecipes
Oh wow.. what an interesting pasta recipe with eggplants, this looks so good. I am loving it!
Jayeeta
Thanks a ton, Jolly 🙂
Renu Agrawal Dongre
I love to cook eggplant the Italian way and this looks so so yum and delicious. I would definitely give this a try.
Jayeeta
Thank you, Renu……..Do try the recipe and give me a feed back……… 🙂
Aruna
I have never had this pasta and cannot wait to try it, Jayeeta. It looks so delicious.
Jayeeta
I also tasted it for the first time and believe me it was worth making….. 🙂
Flavours Treat
Pasta with eggplant looks absolutely delicious. I am sure this recipe will be a hit at my home specially my pasta lover daughter. Thanks for sharing this awesome recipe.
Jayeeta
Thank you so much, Geetha…….Try this recipe for your daughter and let me know her feedback 🙂
Rafeeda - The Big Sweet Tooth
Such an interesting pasta recipe and that too with eggplants! I am not sure if my family would enjoy this, but I surely would…
Jayeeta
Thank you Rafeeda…….I will be happy if you try the recipe for yourself…….. 🙂
poonampagar
I have yet to try adding eggplant to a pasta dish. Your recipe sounds interesting and I am tempted to try it soon. Thanks for the share.
Jayeeta
Thank you, Poonam…..I will wait for your feedback….. 🙂
curryandvanilla
Pasta and cheese…you got me there 🙂 Love the addition of eggplant to it; I am sure it gives a lovely texture to the bite of pasta! Yummy!!!!
Jayeeta
Thank you, Vanitha….
FoodTrails
Loved the addition of eggplant in pasta. Have read a few pasta recipes with eggplant but never tried it. Your dish looks so tempting!!!
Jayeeta
Thank, Swati…..Try the recipe sometime……It is a bit different from regular pasta dishes…
Seema Doraiswamy Sriram
This is a blessing for people like me who look for more of the veggies than the pasta. I am sure to try this as it fits my family perfectly
Jayeeta
Thank you, Seema…….Do try and let me know about the outcome……. 🙂
Ashima
Such a simple and easy recipe. I love eggplant with pasta! Thanks for sharing.
Jayeeta
Thanks, Ashima 🙂
Veena Krishnakumar
This is such an innovative dish. Such a lovely recipe.
Jayeeta
Thank you, Veena 🙂
Anshu Agarwal
This sounds absolutely delicious…want to try it right away..perfect share for the theme..loved it👌☺
Jayeeta
Thank you so much, Anshu 🙂
Vidya Narayan
Pasta with Aubergines are my favourite. They bring so much flavour to the dish. A great way to feed aubergine to kids actually. The combination of cooked aubergine and melting cheese is too tempting.
Batter Up With Sujata
Wow pasta with eggplant looks so delicious. Cheese pasta eggplant sounds interesting. So innovative recipe. Loved it. I am sure kids will love it. Awesome share.
Priya Suresh
Wow, what an amazing pasta there.. Adding eggplant to pasta is definitely a must to try. And am sure that my pasta loving kids will enjoy this dish without any fuss. Beautiful dish there.
mayurisjikoni
An amazing pasta recipe, I love it with eggplants. I like the idea of frying the eggplants so it stays a but firm and yet soft. Lovely recipe.
themadscientistskitchen
Wow! I can imagine the flavours of this delicious pasta allo Norma. I must try this out asap.
Best Indian Food Blog
Interesting!
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