I’ve been told that in Italy, ‘Norma’ means something spectacular or magnificent. I’m unsure if it’s true, but if it is, this dish is just as fantastic as its name suggests! This dish is a perfect example of the simplicity of Italian cooking. You don’t need a lot of complicated ingredients to create a phenomenal dinner. It’s simply made with the flesh of roasted eggplant, canned plum tomatoes, white wine, and fresh basil. The sauce is made by removing the flesh from roasted eggplants and adding it to tomato sauce, where the eggplant cooks down even more, making a delectable, flavorful dish that I promise you’ll love!
Step By Step Instructions
Start by cutting 4 small eggplants in half and placing their flesh side down in a sheet pan. Then coat them with a thin layer of olive oil or spray them with low-fat cooking spray. Look for shiny and smooth eggplants that feel heavy when you pick them up. If they feel very light, they might be too old. Press your finger gently but firmly against the skin of the eggplant. If it gives a little and then bounces back, it’s good. If your finger leaves a lasting dent, it means the eggplant is not very fresh and not ideal for cooking. Roast in a hot oven for 30 to 35 minutes. When the skin shrivels, this is a good indication it is done. Boil a pot of water for 1lb of pasta. Cook the pasta until almost done (about 2 minutes undercooked). Carefully remove the flesh from the eggplant while it’s still hot by scooping it out with a spoon. Repeat until all the flesh is removed from the skins of the eggplants. While the pasta cooks, start your sauce. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil over medium-high heat in a deep frying pan. Add the garlic and cook until just browned. Add one 14oz can of plum tomatoes. Pour in 1 cup of white wine and increase the heat to let the alcohol in the wine evaporate. As the wine reduces, use a potato masher or the back of a spoon to squash the tomatoes into the sauce. Continue to crush the tomatoes until they are your desired texture. Add the eggplant flesh to the pan with the sauce. Next, grab a big handful of basil. I mean a good handful! Chop or tear the basil and add it to the sauce. Mix the basil in, lower the heat, and allow to simmer until your pasta is about 2 minutes underdone. Before draining the pasta, remove a cup of the cooking water and set aside. Add the pasta to the pan with the sauce and half the cooking water. Allow to simmer for two-three minutes to finish cooking the pasta. Check the pasta is done. Once it is, add freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Mix in the cheese and taste for seasoning. Season to taste and serve with extra grated cheese. Erren’s Kitchen is written and produced for informational intentions only. We are not certified nutritionists, and the nutritional information found on this site has not been assessed or authorized by a nutritionist or the FDA. The nutritional information found in our recipes is offered as an estimate and should not be considered a guarantee or fact. The estimated data is provided as a courtesy and calculated through a third-party online nutritional calculator, spoonacular API. Although we do our best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered rough estimates. Many factors, such as brands or products purchased and the nutritional fluctuations that naturally occur in fresh produce, can alter the effectiveness of the nutritional information in any recipe. Furthermore, various online calculators provide different results depending on their particular algorithms and nutrition fact sources. To obtain the most precise nutritional information in a provided recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the exact ingredients you are using when preparing the recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
