Helloooo!
I’ve made a conscious decision to start eating more pasta dishes. Usually, I stick to the same pasta bake dynamics. After much browsing, however, I’ve realised how versatile pasta dishes can be! It’s budget-friendly too, which is always good. Especially in these crappy economic times *makes obscene gesture to economy* 🙁
Most people say Pasta alla Norma originates from the Opera Norma, but I like it for two more special reasons. My eldest sister Norma, and my Auntie Norma 😀
I wish there was a Pasta Catherine…
I got the recipe for this Sicilian dish from the BBC Good Food website, but I bought the wrong cheese! I read on a few other websites that the best cheese to use is “Ricotta Salata“, which is a dried, firm cheese. I bought the spongy, creamy Ricotta. Doh! It was still useful, as you’ll soon discover…
I added some passata to mines too, to make it more saucy! You know me, I can’t leave recipes alone!
Here’s what I did:
Ingredients (Served 3)
300g linguine pasta
1 aubergine, cut into 1cm discs
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 pinch chilli flakes (be careful with this!)
1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
1 x 370g tub of passata
olive oil for frying
Small bunch of basil, shredded
Large spoonful of ricotta cheese (you could also use the recommended 50g pecorino, parmesan or feta)
First, I chopped my aubergine discs into little matchsticks and fried in olive oil.
After 5-7 minutes, they were soft and cooked through. I put them on a plate (with kitchen roll to absorb the oil), seasoned with salt & pepper, and put aside till later.
I fried my minced garlic for a minute, before adding the chilli flakes. I added about a tablespoon, though a few sprinkles would suffice! After adding my tomatoes and passata to the garlic & chilli, I left to simmer for 10 minutes. At this time, I put my linguine into a pot of boiling water.
The chilli was starting to catch in the back of my throat. I’m a complete wimp when it comes to spices, so you can imagine my predicament. This is when my wrongfully selected ricotta stepped in. A fateful dollop went in, to try and mellow the spicyness and add a creamier texture…
I added the drained linguine to the sauce, followed by the aubergine and basil. I tossed it all together on a low heat, making sure the pasta was nicely coated.
I served this with some cheesy garlic bread. Delicioso!
This was very nice 🙂 I loved the little explosions of fresh basil, and the chilli flakes weren’t as bad as I’d feared. Don’t get me wrong… there was a kick to it, but it was manageable for a timid palate like mines 🙂
Perfect for Vegetarians too – you don’t even miss the meat!
Any favourite pasta dishes you’d like to share?
See you next week! Enjoy 😀 x
I used to think I hated aubergines… and then I realised that what I hated was the way some people cook them. When they are treated properly… oh, how delicious they are! I’d love to try this but for the simple fact I haven’t seen any aubergines here… little Thai pea aubergines, yes, but not those beautiful large ones. I shall explore and see what I can find because I have a hankering now for this….
WENDY, you’re back! :’) I’m sure the little Thai pea aubergines would suffice… if not… you can always live here and eat aubergines, and I’ll just pack myself off to KL! I’d only do it for you though 🙂 hee hee!
I’ve just blogged something very similar – courgettes instead of aubergines and mozarella instead of ricotta. We even both used De Cecco Linguine.
Mine was nice! yours looks good too – after looking at yours I might have an experiment with an aubergine version.
Was your De Cecco Linguine also on special deal at Morrisons? haha 🙂 I bought two packs!
Mmmm your dish sounds lovely; I do love mozzarella. Must have a gander 🙂
This is very like the sauce I made to go in a gnocchi bake, so I know just how good it is. Adding the ricotta is a great idea, Must remember that. It would really change the dish. Yum!
You’ve just reminded me about my gnocchi intentions, I must add it to my meal planner immediately 🙂
You need a tweet button Catherine! I am going to tweet this but will have to do it the long way. Have a try of this button. I add it into my posts now. It looks rather neat. All you have to do is add your post url.
THANK YOU Jacqueline! 😀 I just done it to my new page, I can’t believe it worked 🙂 I shall bookmark that link and do it for all futuer posts. Nice one! 🙂
I’m always a bit wary of using chilli flakes but after your experience perhaps I shouldn’t be. I reckon ricotta was a much better choice!
The ricotta was delicious; I’ve never disliked a dish containing ricotta 🙂 I will be a bit more careful next time I use those pesky flakes!