Pasta alla norma is a typical first course of the Sicilian tradition, in particular of Catania, made with short pasta and a tomato-based sauce, fried aubergines and salted ricotta. A vegetarian dish, such as the aubergine Parmigiana.
The origin of the name? Pasta alla Norma comes from Catania, the hometown of Vincenzo Bellini, an Italian opera composer, well known for one of his most famous operas, Norma, the lead character. Nino Martoglio, after trying this pasta dish, exclaimed, “Chista è ‘na vera Norma!”. That's delicious!
A classic and authentic dish that has become famous in all regions, where it is prepared above all during the summer when aubergines are readily available and in season.
Pasta alla norma is a very simple dish to make, it only takes a few minutes for the aubergines to rest in salt and then fry them.
How to Make Pasta alla Norma? Let's discover the authentic italian recipe!
Category: First Courses
Wash and dry the aubergines. Slice them giving a uniform thickness of a few mm. [1]
It is important that the slices are as equal as possible to each other. [2]
Arrange them in layers in a colander alternating them with a pinch of salt. Press them and let them rest for an hour. [3]
In the meantime, pour a drizzle of oil into a saucepan, add the finely chopped onion and sauté gently. [4]
Add the tomato puree, season with salt and cook the sauce for about 20 minutes.[5]
Flavor with the chopped basil and set aside. Bring plenty of lightly salted water to the boil. [6]
Rinse the aubergines to remove the excess salt, then dry them by dabbing them well with a cloth. [7] Fry the aubergines in plenty of hot oil. [8]
Drain them on absorbent paper as they turn golden. Salt them lightly and keep aside. Boil the rigatoni. [9]
Drain the pasta al dente and add to the tomato sauce. [10]
Pasta alla norma can be kept for one day in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Freezing is not recommended.
It is advisable to always slice the aubergines using the same thickness and shape, so as to obtain uniform cooking during frying.
The pasta must be stirred into the tomato sauce by adding the grated ricotta salata to make it creamier.
Like any traditional recipe, pasta alla norma also has numerous variations based on the area in which it is prepared.
You can use penne or rigatoni, but also spaghetti and bucatini, you can choose tomato puree or peeled tomatoes, sliced or sticks aubergines, but also diced.
Ricotta salata should not be missing from this dish, but as an alternative you can also use a semi-seasoned pecorino.
Some variants include the replacement with the "ricotta infornata", a cheese of Messina origins.
Pasta alla Norma is a vegetarian dish, perfect for summer!
Pinot Nero
The dish, with a typically Mediterranean flavor, owes its name to the Catania director Nino Martoglio, who compared the elevated goodness of the flavors to the homonymous work by Vincenzo Bellini "Norma".
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11 oz/320 g Rigatoni
1 big aubergine
18 oz/500 ml Tomato sauce
ricotta salata (finely grated)
virgin olive oil
salt
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