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I'm sitting at my desk on a lunch break, thinking about dinner. Then I open my email and see an article on pasta alla norma and suddenly my lunch kind of pales next to the thought of this recipe and article:

"The tomatoes now are the best they'll be all season," says Joe Pasqualetto, chef at Brooklyn Italian jewel box Rucola, gingerly digging through a bowl of rainbow-colored miniature heirlooms. "And eggplants are at their height, too. That's why this dish, to me, is perfect for right now."

He's talking about pasta alla norma, the classic Sicilian recipe for pasta in tomato-eggplant sauce, spiked liberally with garlic and fresh basil and topped with a dusting of hard, salty cheese. Named in honor of Vincenzo Bellini's opera Norma, the pasta is a quintessential entry in the pantheon of nonna-style dishes that made it to America.

Read more: http://www.tastingtable.com/entry_detail/national/17960/Video_Rucola_Chef_Joe_Pasqualetto_on_How_to_Make_Pasta_Alla.htm#ixzz3EoiFNKSD

As much as I love food, I love pictures of food even better. I also love eggplant, which I think sometimes gets a bad rap. Truly, it deserves more praise. Atlanta Magazine thinks so too:

http://www.atlantamagazine.com/dining-news/if-you-dont-love-eggplant-please-try-harder2/