Pasta alla Norma

Cut the aubergine into 1.5 cm cubes, toss them with the tablespoon of fine salt in a colander, and leave them to drain for 20 minutes.

💡 Beads of brown water will run out. That water is the bitterness, and it is also what makes aubergine drink oil like a sponge — this step is why the fried cubes come out sweet rather than greasy.

Rinse the cubes under cold water to wash the salt away, then dry them hard between two clean tea towels — properly dry, not damp.

Start the sauce: warm the 2 tablespoons of olive oil with the squashed garlic clove over low heat for 2 minutes, until the garlic is fragrant and pale gold — never brown.

💡 Browned garlic turns bitter and that bitterness carries all the way through the sauce. Pale gold is the target; pull the pan off the heat early if it is racing.

Crush the tinned tomatoes in your hand straight into the pan, add a pinch of salt and 4 basil leaves, and simmer over medium-low for 15 minutes, until it darkens and a spoon leaves a brief trail.

Meanwhile heat the frying oil in a small deep pan to about 180°C — a cube of aubergine dropped in should sizzle busily and rise within a couple of seconds.

💡 Too cool and the aubergine drinks the oil; too hot and it blackens before the middle softens. If you have no thermometer, test with one cube first — that is what it is for.

Fry the aubergine in two batches for 3–4 minutes each, until deep golden and completely soft in the middle. Lift them onto kitchen paper.

Taste one. It should be sweet and creamy, with no squeaky raw bite left at the centre.

💡 Undercooked aubergine is the most common fault in this dish. It cannot be fixed later in the sauce — go back and fry it longer now.

Fish the garlic clove out of the sauce and discard it, then stir about two-thirds of the fried aubergine into the tomato and turn the heat right down.

Boil the pasta in well-salted water and drain it 1 minute before the packet time, saving a cup of the water.

Tip the pasta into the sauce and toss over medium heat for that last minute, adding pasta water a splash at a time until the sauce coats the pasta and slides.

💡 Finishing the pasta in the pan rather than spooning sauce over it in the bowl is the difference between pasta with sauce and pasta alla Norma.

Off the heat, fold through the remaining basil, torn by hand.

Divide between two warm bowls, crown each with the reserved fried aubergine, and shower generously with grated ricotta salata.