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Pasta alla Norma

Name: Pasta alla Norma
Total time: 40 min
Yield: Serves 2
Cuisine: Italy
Ingredients: 2 Eggplant; 1 can Canned tomatoes; 1 clove Garlic; 200g Pasta (penne, etc.); 4 tbsp Ricotta salata (or grated hard cheese); To taste Basil; As needed Frying oil; 2 tbsp Olive oil

Main Dish

⏱ 40 min

👥 Serves 2

Difficulty ⭐⭐

Fried eggplant, tomato sauce, and shaved ricotta salata — a signature pasta from Catania in eastern Sicily.

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📖 The Story Behind This Dish

A signature dish of Catania, the eastern Sicilian city at the foot of Mount Etna. The name is said to honor the opera "Norma" by Catania-born composer Vincenzo Bellini — legend has it a local writer, tasting the dish, declared it "as perfect as Norma itself." Fried eggplant, sweetened by the frying, meets a fresh tomato sauce, finished with a snowfall of salty aged sheep's milk cheese, ricotta salata. In Catania households, it's a beloved summer staple.

🌆 Where it's eaten: In a Catania courtyard with Mount Etna on the horizon, the smell of frying eggplant drifts through a lazy afternoon as the family takes turns shaving the finishing cheese.

🥕 Ingredients (serves 2)

Eggplant 2
Canned tomatoes 1 can
Garlic 1 clove
Pasta (penne, etc.) 200g
Ricotta salata (or grated hard cheese) 4 tbsp
Basil To taste
Frying oil As needed
Olive oil 2 tbsp

👩‍🍳 Instructions

Slice the eggplant into 1cm rounds, salt lightly, and let sit 10 minutes to draw out moisture.
Pat dry and fry in plenty of oil until golden on both sides; set aside.
In another pot, heat olive oil and garlic, then add the canned tomatoes and simmer 15 minutes.
Stir half of the fried eggplant into the tomato sauce and warm through.
Boil the pasta and toss with the sauce.
Plate and top with the remaining fried eggplant, a generous shaving of ricotta salata, and basil.

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