Weekday Tomato Sauce

• For 2 people (or 4?)
• Ingredients
  • 800g Canned Whole Peeled Plum Tomatoes
  • 2-3 cloves of Garlic, thinly sliced
  • Fresh Basil
  • 3 Tablespoons, Olive Oil
  • 1 Tablespoon of Cold Unsalted Butter
  • Salt

Pasta alla Norma

• For 2 people (or 4?)
• Ingredients
  • Ingredients for Weekday Tomato Sauce
  • 680g of Eggplant
  • 3 Tablespoons, Olive Oil
  • Cheese: Ricotta Salata, Grated or Parmaggio
  • Salt
• Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 230ºC
  2. Slice the garlic thin.
  3. Puree the tomatoes with a blender on low.
  4. Cube the Eggplant into cubes 3x3cm
  5. Add the eggplant to a bowl and coat with the oil and salt and give it a toss.
  6. Transfer to a sheet tray with a bit more oil and salt and get them
     • spread out evenly
     • place in the oven and roast for 20-30 minutes
     • flip and rotate the eggplant half way through until they are browned and hold their shape but still retain their juices
  7. In a wide sauté pan over medium heat, add the olive oil, enough to coat the bottom of the pan, then immediately add the garlic and basil to the cold oil and slowly bring up to temperature to infuse the oil with the garlic and basil flavor. The oil is the vehicle to transfer all that flavor to the tomatoes.
     1. Once the garlic starts to brown, add the pureed tomatoes.
        • Season with some salt and let simmer for 10-20 minutes or until the sauce has thickened.
  8. While the sauce is cooking, bring a pot of water up to a boil and add some salt to it. The eggplant should be roasted by the time the water comes to a boil.
  9. Remove eggplant from the oven and set aside.
  10. (Wait with fresh pasta, cook it at he very end as it takes 1min) Add the pasta to the water and cook nearly al dente. If package says 9 minutes for al dente, drain the paste 1-2 minute prior to that and finish cooking the pasta in the sauce.
  11. In a separate pot, transfer a few tablespoons of the sauce into the pot, plus some fresh basil and a knob of fresh butter and melt that into the tomato sauce. Then drain the pasta when it’s ready and add it directly to the pot of sauce. Toss and finish cooking the pasta in the sauce until the sauce coats the pasta, then add half the eggplant and gently fold that into the sauce.

Tomato Sauce

Ingredients

• 800g of whole canned tomatoes (Mutti)
• 1 large red onion
• 1 large carrot
• 4 gloves of garlic
• the rind of a parmigiano cheese
• Basil leaves
• Olive oil

Instructions

1. Prepare vegetables
   • Peel and half onions
   • Peel garlic
   • Peel and quarter carrots
2. Pour tomatoes into bowl and and squash the tomatoes by hand
3. Cover the bottom of a large pot with olive oil and heat up on medium heat
4. Add garlic gloves and fry until lightly brown
5. Pour in tomatoes (pour over wooden spoon to avoid splash)
6. Add vegetables, parmesan rind and basil (tear basil by hand)
7. Add about 1 tbsp. of olive oil
8. Simmer for about 30min until carrots are4 tender