Pasta Alla Norma (Authentic Sicilian Recipe)

Pasta Alla Norma - Authentic Italian Recipe

No ratings yet

Pasta Alla Norma (Authentic Sicilian Recipe)

Try this legendary Pasta Alla Norma made with sweet, silky fried eggplant and a rich tomato-basil sauce to feel the taste of Sicilian summer in your home!

Prep Time30

Cook Time15

Total Time45

Course: Pasta

Cuisine: Italian

Servings:

Calories: 481kcal

Author: Svitlana

Ingredients

1 lb eggplants
extra virgin olive oil for tomato sauce plus more for generously coating the eggplants
2 cups passata (tomato puree)
2 garlic cloves
handful fresh basil leaves
12 oz durum wheat pasta spaghetti or short type of pasta like caserecce
Salt to taste
2 oz ricotta salata (salted ricotta cheese)

Instructions

Eggplants

Wash the eggplants and peel them zebra-style — a strip of skin off, a strip left on — for tenderness without losing the character of the skin. If you'd like a garnish, reserve the peels (or cut a few extra circles before cutting the rest of the eggplants into cubes — see step 3). Cut the eggplants into ½-inch (1–1.5 cm) cubes.
Put the cubes in a bowl and coat generously with extra virgin olive oil — be generous, it's what gives you that fried taste without the deep-frying.
Oven Method: Arrange in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet and roast at 200°C (392°F), fan on, for 25–30 minutes, tossing halfway, until golden outside and creamy inside.
Air fryer Method: cook at 200°C (392°F) for about 20-25 minutes, tossing halfway.
For a garnish (optional): add a few whole eggplant circles rubbed with oil to the sheet (same timing), or add the reserved peels, cut into thin strips and rubbed with oil, for the last 10–12 minutes for both methods.

Tomato Sauce

In a large skillet, add a generous splash of olive oil, the garlic cloves (crushed with the flat of a knife), and half the basil. Add the passata (tomato pure), then swirl a little water in the empty jar or can and add that too. Bring to a simmer and cook 5–7 minutes, until slightly reduced. Stir in the remaining hand-torn basil and salt to taste.
Have your own sugo di pomodoro on hand? Use about 1 ½ - 2 cups of it in place of the passata and basil — just warm it through before adding the eggplants in the next step.
Add the fried eggplant cubes and toss to coat in the sauce.

Cook Pasta

While tomato sauce is cooking boil pasta ‘al dente’ in well salted water, usually 2 minutes less than the package says. Drain, reserving some cooking water.
Add the pasta to the sauce and toss. If it feels dry, loosen with a splash of pasta water.

Garnish and serve

Top each plate with fried eggplant circles or crispy peel strips (or neither) and a snowfall of freshly grated ricotta salata.

Video

Notes

Top tips:

Be generous with the olive oil — it's what gives oven- or air-fried eggplant that fried taste and creamy inside.
Don't crowd the baking sheet/air-fryer basket; spread the eggplant in a single layer so it fries instead of steaming.
Garnish with fried eggplant circles (classic look) or crispy fried peel strips — your choice, or skip it.
Pull the pasta 'al dente' ~2 minutes early and finish it in the sauce.
Grate the ricotta salata and freeze. If you buy a block of ricotta salata grate it and freeze it for a few months, so you always have some on hand.

Make ahead: Fry the eggplant up to a day ahead, or make the whole eggplant-and-tomato sauce in advance. The sauce freezes beautifully — make extra for winter; freeze up to 3 months.

Storage: Store the sauce, not the dressed pasta — like most pastas, it turns soft once tossed. Cook only the pasta you'll eat and keep the rest of the sauce separately.
Sauce keeps 3 days in the fridge, or up to 3 months frozen. Reheat with a splash of water.

Nutrition