Best Pasta alla Norma Recipe
Pasta alla Norma is a classic Italian pasta dish from Sicilian Cuisine where pasta is served with Tomato Sauce, fried eggplant cubes, grated salty ricotta cheese and fresh basil leaves.
Ingredients
- 400 g - 14 oz eggplant
- Salt
- 500 g - 1 lb 1¾ oz peeled tomatoes
- 2 –3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 clove garlic
- Fresh basil leaves
- 2 l - 8-9 cups oil for frying
- 400 g - 14 oz short pasta with hole rigatoni, sedani, penne…
- 150 g - 5¼ oz salted ricotta shredded (Ricotta Salata substitute: Feta cheese or Pecorino Romano cheese)
Instructions
- Wash the eggplants, trim them and cut into cubes.
- Place the eggplant cubes in a colander and place the colander in the sink. Add a pinch of salt and mix them well. Cover with a plate and let rest, preferably in the sun, for about 1 hour.
- Meanwhile, prepare the tomato sauce. Place canned tomatoes in a large bowl and puree with an immersion blender to obtain a smooth sauce.
- In a saucepan, heat a little olive oil and add 1 clove of garlic. Once the garlic begins to sauté, add the tomato puree. Cook for 15 minutes over moderate heat with fresh basil until you have an aromatic sauce. Taste, add salt to taste if desired and add more fresh basil leaves if desired. Remove the garlic from the sauce.
- When the sauce is ready, fry the eggplant cubes in a large skillet with abundant boiling oil for about 1–2 minutes. Drain on paper towels.
- Cook the pasta according to the packaging instructions and drain 2 minutes before the end of cooking.
- Add the pasta to the saucepan with tomato sauce. Add half the fried eggplant and fresh basil. Mix and cook for 1-2 minutes over medium heat, until the pasta is fully cooked.
- Serve the pasta alla norma adding shredded ricotta salata cheese and the remaining fried eggplant.
- Garnish with fresh basil leaves.