The BEST Pasta Alla Norma (Eggplant Pasta)
GIVEAWAY + Weekend Baking + All Good Things
For a month and a week, I’ve had a cough. Nothing else, just a cough. I got tested for Covid and 4 other respiratory viruses (multiple times). It wasn’t that. It was testing and trying out Italian recipes matched with non-organic wines with sulphites and high tannin content and gorging on chocolate puddings made with refined sugar (Yes, I am allergic to sulphites in wines and refined sugar. Both of which bring on a sore throat that feels like swallowing glass and hangs around for the longest time!) And now for the past week, I’ve lost my voice. I mainly gesture or text my family here at home and they’ve gotten very good at deciphering my very lacking mode of communication.
There is a lot to catch up on that has happened in the last few weeks, but I’ll leave that for another week when my voice is back. It makes no sense, does it? Since I am not speaking here. But I feel my writing tone will be better when I can actually speak. So until then, let’s just cook, shall we?
Today, I have one of my favourite vegetarian meals to share with you. Pasta Alla Norma (Sicilian Eggplant Pasta in case you were wondering)
Okay, so you’ve had Pasta Alla Norma. But have you had like this?
Slowly cooked over the pan with lots of good olive oil, garlic and salt until the eggplant is charred around the edges but so velvety creamy, that you want to cry.
With a sauce rich and fragrant with chilli and basil and more salt of course. A generous dusting of parmesan … a flavour explosion in every mouthful?
I find making this quite meditative - right from the unusual preparation of the eggplant to the layers of flavours built by slow stirring and tasting and adjusting. But I’ve got the recipe perfected for you, all you need to do is try it this weekend!
(I also have helpful eggplant cooking tips, types and brands of pasta I use and lots of delicious pictures)
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Another Divine Eggplant Dip To Try ..
Have you heard of Baingan Bharta? It is the slightly shy but utterly smoky Indian cousin of the hot, globe-trotting Baba Ghanoush. You could call it a Spiced Eggplant Dip, but it is essentially a twice-cooked eggplant mash of incredibly flavourful proportions.
Eggplant is roasted on an open fire (or oven) and the flesh is then stir-fried in a hot pan with caramelized onion, tomato, aromatics and spices. Smoky! Sensational! Delicious! Great smeared in wraps or scooped up with flatbreads/naans or just plain old crackers. Check out my detailed post and a very interesting pan-smoking technique called Dhungar.
Weekend Baking
A lighter, more delicious Sticky Date Pudding!
Incredibly easy to make and look at how divine it looks! Not too sweet either. Just perfect! Recipe Here »
I am running an AMAZING Giveaway with Froothie. You could win this fabulous, commercial-grade blender worth $949. The giveaway is running for another 3 days, so don’t miss out! Enter Here on Instagram!
Manifesto
It is amazing how we need to be reminded of small things to do for our physical and mental health. These aren't hard to do, but because we are bogged down by so much stuff (both tangible and conceptual) we often forget to do them. When I find a piece of information that is profound and valuable, I file it in one place so I can access it whenever I need to. I also have a daily Manifesto, a mantra that I repeat to myself. It could be as simple as remembering to drink water throughout the day or to have a hot shower. But by telling myself that and being mindful of it, I remember to do it and it becomes a slow, steady, daily habit. This in turn has started making really positive changes in my physical and mental health.
THIS WEEK’S MANTRA
All this week I will blast myself with cold water in the shower.
Haven’t done one of these in a while. But in light of me losing my voice recently and still wondering whether it was a virus or a result of too many wines with preservatives and chocolate puddings made with refined sugar … I have decided to bravely blast myself with cold water after every hot shower.
Now I am not brave enough for ice water baths (which is the best form of cold water immersion therapy) but cold showers I can manage. I used to be able to do a full 10 seconds in winter but I’ve lost my way and working towards it again.
What it feels like?
It feels like eternity, even 5 seconds feel like forever. But it takes my breath away and slaps me with an incredible amount of mental clarity, alertness and heart-lifting energy. I feel good. Awake, energised, pumped.
How does it help?
Cold water showers cause a spike in your stress and survival hormone, norepinephrine. This activates your sympathetic nervous system and sends out electrical impulses to the brain to become alert. A study has found that regular cold water showers increase white blood cells in the body, thereby increasing the body’s immunity and ability to ward off viruses and infections. It helps with muscle soreness (especially after a workout) and reduces depression and boosts the mood.
What will your manifesto be this week? I’d love it if you shared in the comments below.
All Good Things
Watched the final season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Oh, what a brilliant show and what a joyful, bittersweet end to it all.
The Restaurant Of Mistaken Orders - so heartwarming and beautiful.
A great instant dessert using frozen strawberries! Yum!
Giant Almond Croissant baked in a tray? Yes, please!
Art by Hannah Weisner.
One memory stitched (in incredibly fine needlework) for each day of the year. How utterly gorgeous!
Chocolate Pear Cake & Pizza Night Salad.
Bippi’s Italian Style Chilli - Obsessed!!
Uh-oh... Another eggplant dip. I must try it, as I seem to get impressed by every new eggplant dip I try - baba ganoush, mutabal, nazkhatoun...
I was so excited to see that you were also following Marvelous Mrs. Maisel! I know very few people that have watched it. The cinematography and the acting are simply brilliant! Will start season 5 very soon.
So sorry you haven’t been well, Sneh. I hope you are 100% in no time. And thanks for the recipes! I can tell I will love them all. 😍