Traditional Pasta Alla Norma with Eggplants

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Pasta Alla Norma is a traditional Sicilian recipe made with fried eggplants, tomato sauce and sprinkled with salted ricotta. Do it right and it should not be oily.

What is Pasta alla Norma

This pasta dish originates from Catania, a Sicilian town located on the slope of the volcano Etna on the Ionian Sea. The volcanic earth around Catania makes the land very fertile and this, coupled with the intense heat of the sun, means that the region produces some of the most fantastic fruits and vegetables, in particular tomatoes, eggplants, almonds, and pistachios.

These ingredients are regularly used in many Catanese recipes and especially the eggplant in dishes like caponata, arancini, parmigiana, baked pasta with eggplants, pasta with swordfish ragu and eggplants, pizza with eggplants locally called Pizza alla Norma.

If you ever decide to go to Catania and arrive at the airport Fontanarossa, I suggest you go visit the famous rosticceria Caffe Parisi where you will find all these dishes made with eggplant. It is one of the best in Catania and the Catanesi take special trips to eat there.

What Norma means

Literally, Norma in Italian is short for Normativa – rules, meaning made within the rules, but the name of the dish has probably a different origin.

A well-known comedian from Catania, Nino Martoglio (1870-1921) compared the perfection of this dish to a famous opera from Vincenzo Bellini (originally also from Catania) “La Norma” that was presented in 1831 at the Scala theatre in Milan.

Norma has, with time, become the synonym of any Italian recipe where fried eggplants are added: Pizza,  Arancini, baked pasta, the choice is vast.

Which pasta for Pasta alla Norma

Traditionally Pasta alla Norma is made with Maccheroni rigati or Rigatoni. Short tubular pasta with stripes. This shape helps to absorb the sauce and create the perfect bite for the eggplants.

If you cannot find Maccheroni, you can also use Penne or Ziti.

Ingredients for the eggplant sauce

• 2 eggplants
• 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil
• 2 cups  homemade tomato sauce
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 3 basil leaves
• 1 tsp of salt
• 4 tbsp ricotta salata

Why Ricotta Salata and not Parmesan

Parmesan is a cheese from Parma located in the North of Italy, while Pasta alla Norma is a Sicilian dish and therefore it uses a local cheese. Ricotta Salata is salted and aged sheep ricotta.

It is not as sweet as Parmesan and slightly more bitter and acidic like Pecorino. It gives a nice contrast to the fried eggplants.

If you cannot find Ricotta Salata, use Pecorino and as a last resort, Parmesan.

Frying the eggplants

1. Cut the eggplants into chunks
2. Pour 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil in a frying pan and bring it to a very high temperature
3. Stir fry the eggplants
4. Until they are soft and brown stirring occasionally

5. Transfer the eggplants into a tray lined with kitchen paper
6. Cover with more kitchen paper to absorb all the oil

Making the sauce

7. In the same frying pan add the chopped garlic cloves
8. Remove the garlic once it is brown
9. Add the tomato sauce and the basil leaves
10. Let it simmer for 10 minutes
11. Mix with the eggplants and stir

Boiling the pasta

12. Bring to boil a pan full of water with a tbsp of salt
13. Once the water is boiling pour the pasta and boil for the amount of time specified on the package, minus 1 minute
14. Once ready, drain the pasta and pour the sauce over it
15. Stir until it is all well combined
16. Transfer into a serving dish
17. Sprinkle with ricotta salata

It is all about the eggplants not been too greasy

The success of this recipe is based on the eggplants not being too greasy. Eggplants are like sponges and will absorb all the oil, so here are some important tips:

• Buy nice firm eggplants, make sure they don’t have too many seeds. If they do, throw them away, buy new ones and restart.
• You can use round or normal eggplants. I use the round as I chop the eggplants into chunks. If you want to cut the eggplants into slices buy regular, long slim eggplants
• Many recipes call for the eggplants to be salted and pressed for 1 hour into a strainer with a weight to drain their bitter juices. I don’t do that anymore as the eggplants you buy now are no longer as bitter as they once were. It is up to you.
• To fry the eggplants it is important to use extra virgin olive oil. It adds to the flavour so flavourless oils are not suitable for this recipe.
• Before you add the eggplants to the oil, make sure the oil is extremely hot. It will cook the eggplants faster and therefore reduce the amount of oil absorbed.
• Once the eggplants are cooked, lay them on top of 2 layers of kitchen paper towel and cover with the same. Press down the paper towel to make sure that oil is released and absorbed by the paper.
• Cook the tomato sauce in the same oil that you fried the eggplants in as it is full of flavour (in the video I don’t use the same oil for the sauce because I was shooting 2 recipes at the same time, apologies!).

Homemade tomato sauce

In this recipe, I use my own homemade tomato sauce made with fresh tomatoes, you can find the recipe on the link and find out how to preserve it for the winter.

If you want to know how in Italy we make pasta with a simple tomato sauce you will find the recipe below:

Simple Tomato Sauce Recipe

Make a simple tomato sauce recipe, not too many flavours or spices. Garlic and basil, that is all you need. When the tomatoes are tasty and full of flavour, simplicity is the winner. This is THE ITALIAN tomato sauce recipe a quick and easy sauce recipe!

Check out this recipe

If you are making the Traditional Pasta alla Norma, leave your comment below I would like to hear from you. You can find more delicious ideas if you FOLLOW ME on Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest and Instagram or sign up to my newsletter.

Traditional Pasta Alla Norma with Eggplants

Pasta Alla Norma is a traditional Sicilian recipe made with fried eggplants, tomato sauce and sprinkled with salted ricotta. Do it right and will not be oily.

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Servings: 4 people

Print Pin Rate

Author: Laura Tobin

Ingredients

• 2 eggplants
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 cups tomato sauce homemade
• 3 leaves basil
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 cloves garlic
• 4 tbsp ricotta salata
• 1 lb Maccheroni

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Instructions

Making the sauce

• Cut the eggplants into chunks
• Pour 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil in a frying pan and bring it at very high temperature
• Stir fry the eggplants until they are soft and brown stirring occasionally
• Transfer the eggplants into a try with kitchen paper and cover with more kitchen paper to absorb all the frying oil
• In the same frying pan add the chopped garlic cloves
• Remove the garlic once it is brown
• Add the tomato sauce and the basil leaves
• Let it simmer for 10 minutes
• Add the eggplants and stir

Making the pasta

• Bring to boil a pan full of water with a tbsp of salt
• Once the water is boiling pour the pasta and boil for the amount of time specified on the package, minus 1 minute
• Once ready, drain the pasta and pour over the sauce
• Stir until it is all well combined
• Transfer into a serving dish
• Sprinkle with ricotta salata

Video

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Notes

The success of this recipe is all based in the eggplants not been too greasy. Eggplants are like sponges and they will absorb all the oil, so here are some important tips:

• Buy nice firmed eggplants, make sure they don't have too many seeds. If they do, throw them away, buy new ones and restart.
• You can use round or normal eggplants. I use the round as I chop the eggplants into chunks. If you want to cut the eggplants into slices buy regular, long slim eggplants
• Many recipes call for the eggplants to be salted and pressed for 1 hour into a strainer with a weight to drain their bitter juices. I don't do that anymore as the eggplants you buy now are no longer bitter as they were once. It is up to you.
• To fry the eggplants it is important to use extra virgin olive oil. It adds to the flavour so flavourless oils are not suitable for this recipe.
• Before you add the eggplants to the oil, make sure the oil is very, extremely hot. It will cook the eggplants faster reducing the amount of oil been absorbed.
• Once the eggplants are cooked, lay them over a double kitchen paper towel and cover with the same. Press the paper towel to make sure oil is released and absorbed by the paper.
• Cook the tomato sauce in the same oil where you fried the eggplants as it is full of flavour ( in the video I don't use the same oil for the sauce because I was shooting 2 recipes at the same time, sorry).
• Traditionally Pasta alla Norma is made with Maccheroni rigati or Rigatoni. Short tubular pasta with stripes. This shape helps to absorb the sauce and create the perfect bite for the eggplants. If you cannot find the Maccheroni, you can also use Penne or Ziti.
• Ricotta salata is less sweet than Parmesan and slightly more bitter and acidic like the Pecorino. It gives a nice contrast to the fried eggplants. If you cannot find Ricotta Salata, use Pecorino and as a last resource Parmesan.

Nutrition

Calories: 691kcal | Carbohydrates: 105g | Protein: 19g | Fat: 23g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Sodium: 1235mg | Potassium: 1183mg | Fiber: 12g | Sugar: 16g | Vitamin A: 603IU | Vitamin C: 14mg | Calcium: 63mg | Iron: 3mg

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