Blend into the tanginess and mushiness of a creamy pasta
Pasta alla Norma is a traditional Sicilian pasta dish that comes from Catania, located on the eastern coast of Sicily, Italy. It is a smooth and colorful dish consisting of cooked pasta (typically macaroni or spaghetti), fried eggplant, tomato sauce, fresh basil, and grated ricotta Salata cheese. It is named after the opera Norma by Vincenzo Bellini, which relates this dish to the great nineteenth-century composer Vincenzo Bellini, who was born in Catania. According to legend, the name “alla Norma” was coined with the useful resource of the Sicilian playwright Nino Martoglio. Upon sampling the dish, he supposedly exclaimed that it was now “una vera Norma!” (A real Norma!), assessing its perfection – like Bellini’s operatic masterpiece Norma (1831)
Pasta alla Norma is undoubtedly one of the more well-known dishes of Sicilian cuisine, recognising the Mediterranean flavours of the island – vibrant ripe tomatoes, eggplants (aubergines), and basil. It is a testament to the land’s gastronomic richness – particularly the use of eggplants – which the Arabs brought to the island during the Middle Ages
Eggplant symbolises the robust Moorish influence in Sicilian cuisine. Ricotta salata, a salted, aged ricotta cheese, is specific to Southern Italy and gives the salty, tangy assessment to the wonder of tomato sauce. The simplicity of the dish highlights the Italian philosophy of the use of some exceptional ingredients to create formidable flavours.
Ingredients
- Any pasta of your choice
- Eggplants (unevenly peeled and sliced, rounded)
- Tomato (or canned tomato)
- Garlic cloves (chopped fine/ finely crushed)
- Basil
- Ricotta salata (grated)
- Olive oil
- Salt (to taste)
- Pepper (to flavour)
Follow the below given steps below to make yourself a homemade Pasta alla Norma today:
Step 1: Take eggplants (as per your recipe) and peel them irregularly. After peeling, discard the top and bottom of the eggplants
Step 2: Cut the eggplants into rounds (make circles). Sprinkle them with salt all over and let them sit aside for half an hour (this will take away the bitterness of the eggplants)
Step 3: Rinse them thoroughly with water to wash away the excess salt. Take a paper towel or cloth and pat them dry
Step 4: Add some olive oil to a skillet and add your sliced eggplants to this. Flip and fry them on both sides until they turn golden brown
Step 5: Take it out on a paper towel or tissue paper to avoid extra oil
Step 6: For the tomato sauce, take a pan and upload in olive oil and chopped garlic. Stir until the garlic starts to sizzle and turns barely golden (do now not allow it burn)
Step 7: Add canned or boiled tomatoes (skin peeled). Add in a pinch of salt to adjust the taste and for seasoning add in pepper, and some basil leaves Let it simmer till the sauce thickens. This may take approximately 15-20 minutes
Step 8: Take a deep pot and add in salt. Let it come to boil and add in your readymade pasta. Let the pasta cook until it gets 80% cooked
Step 9: Drain the leftover water. Collect the starch in a pot (for sauce, if needed)
Step 10: Add your cooked pasta to the prepared tomato sauce. Stir it and give it a good mix (until the sauce covers the pasta sufficiently) Splash some drained pasta water (to adjust the consistency)
Step 11: Now add in your fried eggplant slices and mix it gently (without breaking the eggplants) with the saucy pasta
Step 12: Finish it by grating any cheese of your choice and serve it with basil Serve it warm, with a glass of Sicilian red wine.
