Pasta alla Norma is a classic and timeless Italian dish, hailing from the Sicilian city of Catania. It features eggplant—lots of it—in a simple marinara-style tomato sauce. While the ingredients technically qualify it as a late summer dish, it can be prepared year-round, which is good news for us. For something so simple, the flavors are warm, rich, and comforting—which provides a perfect balm, Italian-style, during the frenzied holidays. For an authentic pasta alla Norma, the eggplant is fried until soft, golden, and slightly caramelized, then tumbled with a short tubular pasta, a shower of sharp and salty ricotta salata cheese and fresh basil leaves. In this recipe, I have made a few minor adjustments. First, I oven-roast the eggplant to reduce the amount of oil needed to coax them into squidgy goodness. Eggplants are essentially sponges and will soak up all the oil in which they cook. Roasting the …