A summery take on eggplant and tomatoes

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Roasted Eggplant alla Norma, a recipe by Christian Reynoso.

Eggplants are drizzled with olive oil for Roasted Eggplant alla Norma.

It's my solid opinion that the best way to cook an eggplant is to roast it, slowly, with a lot of olive oil until it's golden brown, caramelized and has that distinct custard-like texture. It becomes meaty in the sense that it's substantial and steak-like, but tender in that it's elegantly soft and rich. A roasted eggplant is a beautiful thing.

This is not a new or exciting way to treat eggplant, but sometimes good is just good, and roasting has a lot of documented delicious precedence.

So I’d like to share yet another recipe for, yep, roasting eggplant and serving it like the famous summer dish: pasta alla Norma. The difference is there's no pasta here. That famed Sicilian dish usually pan-roasts chunks of eggplant and envelops them in a quick tomato sauce with herbs and garlic. It's delicious, but here I take pasta alla Norma's main character — eggplant — and give it the "Norma" treatment.

First I roast the eggplant with big glugs of olive oil. I like medium-size globe eggplants because they have plenty of light airy flesh to balance the richness, and in the time it takes to cook them, I can make the sauce. If you’re using slimmer eggplant such as the Japanese variety, you’ll need to adjust the roasting time and the amount of oil.

Besides eggplant, the only other main ingredient in "Norma" are tomatoes, which I turn into a sauce that's super garlicky and freckled with crushed chile flakes to serve as a base and to spoon over the eggplant. The sauce saturates the flesh, making each bite very Norma-y — or that's how I think of it because the sauce should coat the eggplant at least a little. It's a simple sauce, just freshly chopped tomatoes, whole cherry tomatoes, loads of garlic, oregano and chile flakes. You can't do much better than that.

To finish this dish, I add a few toppings to make it a vegetarian main. I shave ricotta salata over the top, which if you’ve never had is a classic ingredient in pasta alla Norma. It's usually made from sheep's milk and is creamy yet also dry and salty. A little more herbs, some olive oil, flake salt and that's it.

I recommend having several thick-cut toasted pieces nearby to soak up the sauce. Since the oven's already on, I usually throw slices of bread on the same sheet pan with the eggplant to toast while it roasts, because what's more beautiful than that?

Christian Reynoso is a chef, recipe developer and writer. Originally from Sonoma, he lives in San Francisco. Email: [email protected] Instagram: @christianreynoso Twitter: @xtianreynoso

Serves 4

Eggplant, usually the supporting ingredient in the famed Sicilian pasta dish, pasta alla Norma, is the main character here. While you slow-roast the eggplant until it's golden brown and custardy, make a quick, garlicky sauce with fresh tomatoes that becomes a base and sauce to spoon over the dish. Cheese and herbs are not really optional here: Don't skip them.

3 medium globe or Italian eggplants (about 2½ to 3 pounds), sliced in half lengthwise¾ cup olive oil, plus more for servingKosher salt and freshly ground black pepper1 tablespoon finely grated or finely chopped garlic ¾ pound tomatoes, chopped ¾ pound cherry or Sungold tomatoes ½ teaspoon crushed chile flakes1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano Flake salt4 ounces ricotta salata or pecorino romano, for serving Fresh basil leaves, torn smaller, for serving Fresh parsley leaves, torn smaller, for serving 4 slices of bread, cut 1-inch thick and toasted, for serving

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

Use a knife to make 3- to 4 ½-inch slits into the cut side of each eggplant half — try long diagonal slits, X's, smiley faces or whatever pattern you like. Place the eggplant cut-side up on the prepared sheet pan and drizzle with ½ cup of the olive oil, season with salt and pepper, then turn the eggplants over so they are cut-side down.

Place the sheet pan in the oven and roast until the eggplants are golden brown on the bottom, and the flesh seems very soft when poked with your finger or a spoon, about 35-40 minutes.

While the eggplant is roasting, add the remaining ¼ cup olive oil and garlic in a large skillet over medium heat. Let the garlic sizzle for a couple minutes (but don't let it brown), stirring with a spoon, and then add the tomatoes, chile flakes and oregano. Stir again and cook, stirring every minute or so until the chopped tomatoes sauce out and dissolve and the cherry tomatoes are super juicy and bursting, with some still intact, about 12-15 minutes.

To serve, spoon the sauce on serving plates, place the eggplant on top, spoon more sauce over the eggplant, then season with flake salt, shave or crumble the ricotta salata over the top and garnish with the basil and parsley; drizzle with more oil. Have the toasted bread nearby for soaking up the sauce.