Pasta alla Norma

Peel some of the skin off a firm medium eggplant and chop it into little cubes.

Variation: toss the eggplant with a little olive oil on a baking sheet and bake at 425 for about 20 minutes, until golden, instead of frying.

Fry the eggplant in extra light olive oil until golden on all sides but not too dark, or it turns bitter. Salting the eggplant first is not needed.

Discard the frying oil. In the same skillet, heat a little extra virgin olive oil and saute the garlic until fragrant.

Add the can of cherry tomatoes and about half a cup of water used to rinse the can; simmer 15 to 20 minutes, about as long as the pasta takes. Season well with salt and add fresh basil.

Boil the pasta in well-salted water until al dente.

Add the fried eggplant to the sauce for only a couple of minutes so it does not turn to mush.

Drain the pasta, add it to the sauce and stir well.

Add a good amount of parm, crumble in the ricotta salata and stir with a big slotted spoon.