As my first recipe to cook out of Ottolenghi’s SIMPLE book I had originally decided to go for something familiar. I’ve long enjoyed Italian cooking and with my love for it comes a great appreciation of pasta dishes. As it turns out I forgot to buy the key ingredient (aubergine) and ended up beginning this journey with another dish: Braised Eggs with Leek and za’atar. Since then I’ve purchased an aubergine though and we are good to go!
Pasta alla Norma is a simple pasta dish with an aubergine sauce, originally from Sicily. I’ve not been very successful in the past of cooking with aubergine — many of my attempts turned out quite bitter — so I was excited to try this one.
Cooking this was incredibly easy: roast the aubergine, cook a simple tomato sauce on the side, give everything a little mix and stir in your cooked pasta. The results are amazing!
Note to self: go easy on the chilli 😊 That said, this was amazing and will definitely become a staple!
Simon Cooks Everything 