Pasta alla Norma

Chef's notes

Pasta alla Norma is pasta tossed with fresh tomato sauce, flavorful eggplant and Italian salty cheese. This dish originated in the city of Catania in Sicily, the home of the famous Italian composer Vincenzo Bellini. Although there are conflicting stories exactly how the dish was named and by who, most believe it was in honor of Bellini and his famous opera “Le Norma” composed in 1831.

The dish is actually quite simple yet surprisingly deliciously. Pasta is tossed with fresh tomato sauce, seared eggplant and shredded ricotta salata cheese just before serving. Individual flavors are retained and complimented when combined.

The fresh sauce is usually traditional, made with olive oil, garlic, onion, fresh peeled or good quality canned tomatoes from Italy, and plenty of fresh basil. My recipe replaces garlic and olive oil with Peter's Garlic Oil; olive oil infused with pot roasted garlic, Tuscany seasoning and a hint of red pepper flakes. It adds terrific complex flavors to the sauce while seasoning the eggplant.

Preparation of the eggplant is important. It is peeled and thick sliced lengthwise. The eggplant is then "sweated" with salt to release its dark bitter liquid.

If electing to cook the eggplant by sautéing, lightly coat the pan with oil from Peter's Garlic Oil.

If oven baking, liberally brush slices with the seasoned olive oil and place on cookie sheets. Brush with enough additional flavored oil to keep the eggplant from drying out. Either way, be careful to remove the eggplant as soon as the slices are cooked through. Please don’t overcook.

However, my very favorite way is to liberally brush the eggplant with the seasoned oil and grill both sides. Once lightly browned and grill marks appear, brush again with more garlic oil. Lower heat and place eggplant on a sheet of aluminum foil on the grates for final cooking. Grilling really intensifies the flavor of the eggplant.

Ricotta Salata is salted cheese made from the whey of sheep’s milk. It is the cheese most associated with this dish. Our family was partial to Pecorino Romano, another salty cheese.

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Ingredients

Peter’s Garlic

¾ cup olive oil
5 garlic cloves with skins
1 teaspoon Tuscany seasoning
Pinch red pepper flakes

Sauce

¼ cup oil from Peter’s Garlic Oil
½ medium onion sliced
1 28 oz. can good quality Italian imported crushed tomatoes
3-inch sprig fresh basil leaves

Eggplant

1 large eggplant
Oil from Peter’s Garlic Oil

Pasta

1 pound rigatoni or your favorite pasta

Ricotta Salata or Pecorino Romano cheese

Instructions

Place olive oil in a butter melting pot. Remove the rough tips of garlic and cut cloves in half lengthwise. Add to pot along with Tuscany seasoning and red pepper flakes. Turn heat to medium. When the oil just begins to simmer lower heat enough to maintain.
Remove garlic skins when released. Continue simmering until cloves tan and soften; monitor their progress. Heat can be increased slightly to hasten the process being careful not to burn garlic.
Sauté onion in ¼ cup of oil from Peter’s Garlic Oil in a pot. When translucent, remove onion. Simmer tomatoes and the sprig of basil in the same pot for about 45 minutes, adding water, salt and pepper as needed.
Peel and slice eggplant lengthwise about ¼ inch thick. Lightly salt the eggplant on both sides and place in a pasta colander over the sink or a pot. After a half hour or so the eggplant will "sweat" its dark, bitter liquid. Wipe the salt off, rinse and dry on paper towels.
When mostly dry, brush both sides with the oil from Peter’s Garlic Oil. Grill on medium heat until lightly browned on both sides. Brush with additional oil and finish cooking by placing slices on a sheet of aluminum foil on grill over low heat or in a cookie tray in the oven. When cooked through, cut eggplant into 1 inch squares. You can also use one of the other methods, sautéing or oven cooked, both discussed above.
To assemble, cook pasta al dente and strain. Place pasta in a bowl. Remove sprig of basil from the tomato sauce. Mix pasta with desired amount of sauce. Add and mix eggplant into the pasta with tomato sauce reserving enough to place some on top as a garnish. Grate Ricotta Salata or Pecorino Romano over each plate to taste (not shown so you can see texture) and serve.
Option, add a second can of tomatoes when cooking the sauce. Use as additional sauce over the pasta if you prefer a slightly wetter sauce. If not, simply reserve the excess. This delicious sauce will never be wasted!

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Pasta alla Norma

Pasta alla Norma

Ingredients

Instructions

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