pasta alla Norma

Pasta alla Norma is, as Jamie Oliver says, “a great big hug in a bowl.” Ours is not an authentic version, not made singing Bellini’s opera “Norma”, which the dish is said to be named after. Not made with rigatoni either, but with spaghetti because that’s what we had in the cupboard. Sadly we didn’t have salty ricotta, however the salty feta in our fridge did the job nicely. Neither did we have any red wine vinegar, so instead we used the brine from Zejd souri black olives to add a bit of depth. We think there’s room for flexibility with this “hug in a bowl”.

The dish is from Sicily, an island which celebrates its Phoenician heritage, as do the Lebanese. As you gently fry the thin slices of garlic and chilli in Zejd’s extra virgin olive oil, it does make you wonder how many generations of Sicilians have begun a meal this way. Fragrant garlic sizzling in floral olive oil with spiky chilli. The aroma is as grounding as the ingredients are deliciously good for you. A comfortingly simple act in a bleak week.

We followed Ottolenghi’s recipe from Simple, roasting the slices of aubergine in the oven until dark brown. He suggests using a potato peeler to cut thin strips of the skin lengthways. This makes the roasted aubergine chunks easier to eat. Rather than drizzling extra virgin olive oil on each slice, he suggests tossing the slices in a bowl with the extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. This means everything is well coated, not saturated. Each slice colours evenly in the oven. Feel free to choose your own way of cooking the aubergine! 

serves 4