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Pasta Alla Norma with a Persian Twist
Let me tell you about the time I threw some fries on top of pasta. I was cooking with Mattia, my friend from Italy and we wanted to make a dish that combines both of our cultures. Pasta alla norma is a simple pasta dish with eggplant and tomato sauce, and khoresht gheimeh bademjan is a Persian tomato based stew that also has eggplant. Mattia and I did a fusion of these two dishes. Instead of the classic tomato sauce we went with the sauce you’d find in khoresht gheimeh–onions and tomatoes cook together with cinnamon and turmeric before introducing saffron and limoo Amani aka dried lime. While the sauce simmered and infused with flavor from those spices it was time to squeeze the living shit out of the eggplant to remove the water before frying til nice and golden. At this point we were ready to build the pasta–undercooked ziti rigati finished in the sauce with some of its cooking water, butter and the eggplant. We tossed it until the pasta was perfectly al dente and the sauce was clinging to it like a tight jacket. Khoresht gheimeh is usually served with fries on top so at this point we had a fuck it moment and decided to do the same with the pasta. This really blew past our expectations. I’d describe it as a dish with an Italian body, but a Persian soul. All the spices worked so well in there and even the fries were a welcome addition.
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