My friend bought me back some lovely Italian gifts, including this handmade orecchiette made by an actual nonna, and a local cheese called ricotta salata which is a salty and sharp cheese. So, I wanted to make something worthy of these ingredients, and my friend suggested pasta alla norma, which is an aubergine and tomato pasta, and something I absolutely love.
I probably haven’t made this the traditional way, but roasting the vegetables in the oven means hands-free cooking for the best part as well as making a really creamy sauce that even my friend was admiring from through her phone!
Serves 3
Ingredients
- 500g tomatoes, cut up into 1″ chunks
- 2 large red onions, cut up into 1″ chunks
- 4 garlic cloves, skin left on
- 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 aubergines, cut into 1″ cubes
- 300g pasta shape of choice
- A big handful of fresh basil
- Ricotta salata to serve – if you can’t find this cheese, Parmigiana would work well.
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180°C fan/200°C convection
- Add the tomatoes, onion and garlic to a large roasting pan with half the olive oil and mix well, ensuring the garlic cloves are closer to the centre so they don’t burn. Roast for around 45 minutes, mixing half way through.
- In a separate baking tin, add the aubergine and remaining olive oil and roast for 30 minutes, till crispy on the edges but soft on the inside.
- When the vegetables are almost finished roasting, boil the pasta for 2 minutes shorter than the cooking time, reserving some pasta water.
- Blend half the tomato mixture with all the garlic cloves, removing the skin, before adding it back to the roasting tin with the cooked pasta, aubergines, and basil. Add a little pasta water if needed to get the desired sauce consistency.
- Serve hot and fresh with grated ricotta salata over the top and enjoy!
Per serving: 676kcal/ 24g fat/ 5.8g saturated fat/ 86g carbohydrates/ 11g fibre/ 21g protein