Spaghetti with Eggplant Sauce

This is essentially pasta alla Norma crossed with a southern Italian puttanesca, and the result is a spaghetti sauce with real Sicilian character. Salted eggplant is the star, and that one-hour drain with a colander of salt is what separates a proper Italian eggplant sauce from a watery disappointment. The salt pulls out the spongy vegetable’s bitter moisture so it fries up golden instead of soaking oil like a mop.

Anchovies, olives, and capers form the briny backbone that turns ordinary tomato sauce into something that tastes like the Sicilian coast. Do not skip the anchovies out of fear; they melt completely into the oil during cooking and leave no fishiness behind, only deep umami savor.

The plum tomatoes chopped right in their own juice with kitchen scissors is a home-cook move that saves a dirty cutting board. Let those juices go into the pot with the tomatoes; they are flavor.

Green bell pepper brings a grassy, slightly bitter counterpoint that keeps the sauce from going cloyingly sweet. A dash of hot pepper sauce at the end adds warmth without making this officially spicy.

Chef Tips

• The eggplant salt-and-drain step is a must; one hour is the minimum, longer is even better
• Squeeze the eggplant dry in a clean kitchen towel before it hits the pan; wet cubes will never brown properly
• Chop the olives, anchovies, and capers together as the directions say; they marry into a single briny base
• Save a cup of pasta water to loosen the finished sauce if it thickens past coating consistency

Variations

• Stir in a handful of toasted pine nuts and golden raisins for a more Arabic-influenced Sicilian profile
• Add a pinch of cinnamon or fennel seed with the tomatoes for fragrant warmth
• Finish with grated ricotta salata, the traditional cheese for pasta alla Norma, for a saltier cap