Lasagne alla Norma (Italian Lasagna with Eggplant)

Sicily’s famous pasta dish Pasta alla Norma is a great vegetarian dish made with eggplant, capers and tomatoes. It's very simple to make - the method I prefer for the eggplant is just to roast it in the oven instead of frying. I like it much better this way and it's in fact a lot easier and uses a lot less oil. The whole lasagna can be assembled ahead of time if you want and refrigerated. Just bring it to room temperature a bit before popping it in the oven to bake.

Roasted Eggplant:
2 large eggplants, cut into barely one inch cubes
4 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. black pepper, freshly ground
2 tsp. sea salt

Sauce:
½ cup onion, finely diced
2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
sea salt
4 cloves garlic, finely minced or grated
1 heaping Tbsp. capers packed in salt, chopped coarsely
2 (28 oz) cans tomato purée or sauce
1 tsp. red hot chili flakes
2 tsp. dried oregano

Lasagna:
2 boxes Barilla no boil lasagna noodles or whatever lasagna noodles you like
8 oz Ricotta Salata cheese
½ cup fresh basil leaves, julienned
1 cup mozzarella, shredded
1 tsp. oregano

Preheat an oven to 400°F (204°C/184°C fan, Gas Mark 6). Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with foil and spray with Pam (cooking spray).

Place the eggplant ingredients in a large bowl and toss everything together well. Place half of the eggplant on each baking pan. Roast the eggplant for about 25 minutes, rotating pans if you do not have a convection oven. Remove from oven and set aside.

Lower oven temperature to 350°F (175°C/155°C fan, Gas Mark 3).

In a medium sauté pan, add the olive oil, onion and salt and cook over low heat until the onion is soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and capers cook one minute more. Increase heat just a little and add the canned tomatoes, chili flakes and oregano. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.

In a 13x9" baking pan, place about ¾ cup of the sauce in the bottom of the pan and spread it out to cover the entire bottom. Boil the lasagna noodles if you are not using the no-boil kind. If you are using the Barilla noodles, place 6 noodles in one layer, covering the whole pan. Add about a cup of sauce and spread on the noodles, making sure they all are covered in sauce. Add more sauce if you need to in order to cover the noodles. Place a fourth of the eggplant on the tomato sauce, a fourth of the ricotta salata and a few of the basil leaves for one layer. Repeat three times more. For the last layer, place 6 noodles on top and cover with the remaining sauce. Sprinkle with the mozzarella and oregano. Cover tightly with nonstick foil or use regular foil, spraying the underside with cooking spray.

Bake for about 45 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 15 minutes.

Remove from oven and let sit for about 10 minutes before slicing to serve.

Makes 10-12 servings.