Recipe - Pasta With Fried Eggplant Sauce -- Pasta Alla Norma

1 One half pound Eggplant
Coarse salt
1 pound Spaghetti
1 tablespoon Favorite homemade tomato
sauce or unseasoned canned
(up to 2)
One fourth cup Olive oil
2 Garlic cloves; peeled and
crushed but left whole
2 Anchovy fillets; roughly
chopped
1 One half cup Favorite homemade tomato
sauce or unseasoned canned
[a]
2 tablespoon Capers [a]
1 tablespoon Finely chopped fresh basil
or 1 teaspoon dried [a]
One half teaspoon Hot red pepper flakes [a]
Parmesan; Romano or Pecorino
cheese

"This is extremely popular in Sicily and is named after the opera composed
by a native son, Vincenzo Bellini. It's also referred to as 'alla Bellini'
or simply 'con Melanzane', with eggplant. There are other versions in which
fried eggplant slices are used to line a casserole before the dish is
baked, but this is more typical.

"There is no wine in the world that can stand up to this properly, but the
Silician white or red Corvo does as good a job as possible. This is a
wonderful meatless main course and needs no accompaniment. Begin the meal
with the traditional prosciutto and melon and end it with something rich
like zabaglione."

Peel eggplant. Cut in 2x1/2x1/2" strips. Place 1 layer in a colander and
sprinkle with salt. Repeat layers till all eggplant used. Put a plate on
top then weight with 2 heavy cans. Let stand 30 minutes, then rinse off
eggplant and squeeze dry in cloth towel.

Cook the spaghetti till al dente in large pot of water; drain. Toss with
12 tablespoons tomato sauce (to keep from sticking together); set aside.

While the spaghetti is cooking, heat 2 tablespoons oil in large skillet
over medium heat. Fry 1 garlic clove stirring often till light brown.
Remove garlic with slotted spoon and discard. Turn heat to high. When oil
very hot, stir in half the eggplant. Cook, turning several times, till all
sides lightly browned. Remove eggplant with slotted spoon; drain on paper
towels. Add remaining 2 tablespoons oil to pan; when very hot, cook garlic
as above and discard, then eggplant as above and remove to paper towels.

Turn heat under pan to low. Add anchovies and stir till melted. Return
eggplant to pan, then add [a]. Bring to boil then immediately remove from
heat. Stir in drained spaghetti (this reheats it). Serve with cheese on the
side. Serves 4 people. Posted to TNT Prodigy's Recipe Exchange Newsletter
by hvane@shrewsbury.org on Aug 13, 1997