One of my favorite dishes is Pasta alla Norma. I was first introduced to it in Ottolenghi's cook book and I fell in love with it because I love eggplant and I love simple, pure pasta dishes without too many ingredients. When I found out that I have gestational diabetes I tweaked this recipe a little so I could continue to eat and enjoy it and I have never had a sugar spike on this dish! I will give you both options here though.
Now in terms of preparation you won't need much for this pasta! Which is one of the things that makes its flavor so amazing. All you need is:
Olive oil
2 eggplants
5 cloves of garlic
2 tins of chopped tomatoes
Some chili flakes
And some parmeggiano cheese for sprinkling on top.
The first thing you do is preheat your oven on 220 degrees C and start chopping your eggplants in 1cm thick slices. Make sure to sprinkle them with olive oil (you can use quite a lot!) and sprinkle with salt and peper.
Make sure to put them on baking sheets in a single layer, don't stack them! You will put them in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until they are golden but still a bit soft, not super crisp. While the eggplants are in the oven you get get on with the sauce...
Now you could wait as you have plenty of time while you eggplants are in the oven, but I suggest you start right away because the more time your sauce has the better it will taste! Chop up your five cloves of garlic, put plenty of oil in the pan and fry them off. Add some chili flakes to taste, depending on how spicy you like it! When the garlic has browned nicely and you have a lovely smell in your kitchen of garlic oil you can add the two tins of tinned tomatoes. Keep the sauce simmering with the lid off, that way it will reduce a little.
When your eggplants are ready in then chuck them all in the sauce. Add some salt, peper and I always like to add a bit of oregano. Now for the non-diabetic this is where you add a teaspoon of sugar. It sounds odd, but sugar really makes the sauce taste a lot better. If like me you are diabetic maybe not add the sugar or just a little bit.
Now as you can see in the picture you have your eggplant in the sauce and this is the time I start making the pasta, so the sauce has plenty of time to thicken and gain flavor. Now as a diabetic I use wholemeal spaghetti and I can recommend it to everyone, wit will also keep you fuller for longer and is more healthy. However, if you want to use regular spaghetti you can do that as well of course. Mix the pasta with the sauce, scoop it on your plate and sprinkle some parmeggiano cheese over it. Enjoy!
The original recipe can be found in the cook book Simple by Ottolenghi. I have tweaked the recipe a bit to my personal likes.
