The Recipe of the Summer

Exclusive BBSP Gourmand Gang Alison Roman World Event. Plus what to wear in the kitchen & a Spyhomie discountiolo on custom Small Talk garments

May 30, 2024

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Today we’ve got:

An exclusive ~sPiCy~ pasta recipe from Alison Roman
The Spyplane philosophy about “what to wear in the kitchen”
A sick apron, plus a clutch of sick tees, sweatshirts, shorts & totes in a beautifully un-basic shade of green
Spyhomie pricing on custom-drawn garments from some longtime NYC Spyfriends

First up —

In Tuesday’s sletter, Spyfriend Alison Roman came through for an extremely Spyplaney conversation, and today she’s back with something truly special. We asked Alison to name “The Spyplane Recipe of the Summer,” and she did us one better — she kindly whipped up a brand-new recipe, and is debuting it here in an exclusive BBSP First Look.

The last time we named a Recipe of the Summer was back in 2021, when we dropped Mina Stone’s excellent one-pot spaghetti with tomatoes, capers, basil and red-chili flakes on Spy Nation… Because we love nothing more than an (optionally) spicy pasta with fresh tomatoes on a summer night!!

Alison went hammer on that score, creating a dish that involves:

Pasta ✅
Cherry tomatoes ✅
A delicious hero ingredient that happens to be dark-purple — Spyplane’s Coolest Color of 2024 ✅
An option to get mad spicy ✅
Just enough difficulty to feel like you are stunting on these smooth-brained lames without it actually being that difficult ✅

Alison simply calls it “a classic Roman.” Enjoy.

Roasted Eggplant Pasta with Parmesan Breadcrumbs by Alison Roman

Serves 4–6

This is not necessarily a quick pasta recipe, because almost nothing involving eggplant is “quick,” but that’s okay. Some things, like a bowl full of pasta that tastes like eggplant parmesan, are worth it.

Something very magical happens when you add water to deeply roasted eggplant in a skillet — the slices of eggplant, previously nearly dehydrated from a trip to the oven (which we do to encourage that signature, almost acidic, concentrated “umami” flavor that can only come from deeply browned eggplant) rehydrates and becomes thick, luscious, almost creamy in texture. In other words, a perfect sauce for pasta. Assisted by some just-burst tomatoes and maybe a dab of tomato paste or something spicy, finished with some parmesan breadcrumbs, this pasta does taste like eggplant parmesan, a compliment of the highest order.

1 ½-2 pounds globe eggplant (about 2), sliced ¼–½ inch thick

½ cup plus 4 tablespoons olive oil, divided

Kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper

4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

8 oz. sungolds or cherry tomatoes, halved if large

1–2 tablespoons tomato paste, harissa paste, or gochujang

Crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

12–16 oz. dried pasta such as calamarata, rigatoni, ziti, paccheri, or any short, tubular shape

1 cup panko breadcrumbs

¼ cup Parmesan or Pecorino, plus more for grating

½ cup chopped parsley, basil, or both

1. Preheat your oven to 425°F/218°C. Arrange eggplant in an even layer on a sheet tray (two if you have them), season with salt and pepper, and drizzle with ½ cup of the olive oil. Flip the eggplant, and season with salt and pepper on the other side. Roast eggplant for 40–50 minutes, flipping the eggplant halfway through cooking, until everything is deeply browned on both sides.*

*Roasting eggplant isn’t hard, but it is inconsistent — more so than any other vegetable maybe. Depending on your oven, the eggplant itself, and what your definition of ½-inch is, it could take anywhere from 40 to even 60 minutes. I’ve roasted eggplant at “425°F” in several different ovens and it is never the same, somehow — the only tip I have is to really roast it until it’s very, very browned, adding more oil if you think it needs it (this will help it brown vs. look white and dehydrated). Well-roasted eggplant is the single most important, make-or-break part of this recipe.

2. Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet (or shallow, heavy bottomed pot like a dutch oven) over medium heat. Add breadcrumbs and season with salt and pepper. Toast, tossing occasionally, until the breadcrumbs are gorgeously golden brown, like individual little pieces of toast, about 5–7 minutes. Add ¼ cup cheese of your choosing and toss to coat, letting it melt into the crumbs (don’t worry if it clumps up) and toss another minute or two. Remove from heat and transfer to a small bowl. Add a tablespoon or two of chopped herbs, toss and set aside.

3. Wipe out the pot or skillet of any crumbs and add remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and nicely toasted, 3-5 minutes. Add tomatoes, tomato paste and crushed red pepper flakes, if using. Season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes burst and the tomato paste turns dark brick red, another 3–5 minutes. Remove from heat and wait for your eggplant to finish roasting.

4. Once your eggplant is where you want it, add it all to the skillet, stirring it in so it melts into the tomatoes. It will look a little dry at first, but know you’re going to add a bunch of pasta water which will give you more of a “sauce.”

5. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta of your choosing until just before al dente. Save 2 cups of pasta water and drain the rest.

6. Add the pasta and 1½ cups pasta water to your pot or skillet and cook over medium heat. Keep tossing and stirring, until the sauce goes from watery to thick and almost creamy (it happens quickly), 3–5 minutes. Each piece of pasta should be beautifully coated and perfectly cooked — add more pasta water if you need it, seasoning with salt and pepper as you go.

7. Divide pasta among bowls and top with breadcrumbs, more parsley, and more cheese to serve.

Spyplane note — when I (Jonah) cheffed this up at HQ (above), I used calamarata pasta, named for its resemblance to calamari rings. I also used harissa and red-pepper flakes, which was a pleasing, if mildly atomic combo. I’m curious to try it with gochujang next. Erin made it with straight tomato paste while visiting her parents and they all loved it. I had a good amount of breadcrumbs remaining at the end, so I sealed them up & used them on the leftovers. Also FYI I cut the eggplant pieces closer to 1/4-inch and, in our oven, they burned in places. When the eggplant broke down, the burnt bits added a nice char flavor I appreciated, but Alison is right that eggplants are the wild card here.

Deliciously — I paired it with a relatively low-ABV (12.5%) 2020 COS Cerasuolo di Vittoria Classico Nero d’Avola from Sicily, and it was fantastic.

Meanwhile —

Spyfriends Nick and Phil from NYC’s Small Talk Studio recently dropped their second-ever collection of cut-and-sew pieces, which rip, but real ones know they first made their name on the strength of their custom-drawn pieces — much-imitated, never-equaled — where the STS crew festoon a garment with motifs personal to you. (We first wrote about Small Talk in Spyplane Year One. You can see the jacket I ordered from Nick in that sletter.)

They just briefly re-opened to custom orders — which now come on Small Talk’s own ecru 12oz Japanese organic cotton twill garments — and until noon ET tomorrow, Classified Spyfriends can enjoy a ‘xclusie 20% Spyhomie Discountiolo:

Just use this Classified-only Spycode:

SMALLTALKSPYPLANE20

It’s good from now until tomorrow, Friday, May 31st, 12 p.m. ET, at the Small Talk Studios customs page.

And finally —

We recently received a Personal Spyplane reader question about kitchen dressing:

“Do you have thoughts on the best clothes to cook in? What material should an apron be?” — badgalvivee

I think, ideally, an apron is the kind of thing you acquire in as little a try-hard mindset as possible… i.e., you steal/inherit a beloved one from a hook in your parents’ kitchen, or you stumble into a vibey spot like the Gualala Arts Center, north of Sea Ranch, CA, and bring home an embroidered apron as a memento from their gift shop.

We often cook dinner in whatever we were wearing that day if it’s not too restrictive (either psychologically or practically speaking). If there’s a goodish chance of splatter, I toss on a Nathan For You “Dumb Starbucks” apron I got from Comedy Central ages ago — there’s a pic of me wearing it in our Nathan Fielder Blackbird Spyplane Interview.

Some splatter is OK on the right garment, of course — see our Semiotics of Swaggy Stains.

As far as apron material, I think you wanna go for some natural plant fiber that is sturdy but relaxed (you don’t need a stiff-a** heavyweight denim joint unless you’re planning to wield heavy machinery / do industrial-grade butchering) … the kind of fabric that will only look better the more you punish & sully it, like a cotton twill or cotton canvas, maybe hemp or a sturdy-weight linen…

I was reminded of this question the other day, checking out the new seasonal collection of “Mika Green” pieces (several of which are above) that the Spyfriends at L.A.’s Everybody.World just put out…

This is a calming, truly fantastic shade of green, available across tees, sweatshirts, off-road-ready (!) Calzuro clogs, a couple different tote bags and — yes — a great apron “made from a unique blend of recycled scraps and sustainably sourced cotton.” (There’s also a nice ecru version, pictured above top left, among other colors.)

Let us know if there’s some remarkable apron (??) we’ve been sleeping on.

The Recipe of the Summer

Exclusive BBSP Gourmand Gang Alison Roman World Event. Plus what to wear in the kitchen & a Spyhomie discountiolo on custom Small Talk garments

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