Last updated on October 30, 2023
Eggplant, tomato, basil and «ricotta»: but maybe not the ricotta you think. We are Italians and we make the traditional recipe of Pasta alla Norma, typical from Sicily
Pasta alla Norma is a recipe from Sicily, made with the typical Mediterranean ingredients grown on the island.
The original recipe comes from the city of Catania, where ricotta salata is produced. The dish was then adapted with products from other places: in the city of Messina, for example, they make it traditionally with Pecorino.
Ricotta salata, which means salted ricotta, is not the fresh ricotta, the kind of soft cheese. The typical 🔊 ricotta salata from Catania is a hard cheese made from sheep's milk and it is grated before serving.
On this page of All Italian we share the original recipe of 🔊 pasta alla Norma, referring to how they make it in Sicily; and we prepare an adapted version for those who do not live in Sicily, step by step.
In Sicily they recommend using maccheroni for this pasta sauce, which not the macaroni that are known outside Italy.
Macaroni in this case is a short pasta format like rigatoni.
Penne or fusilli are also widely used for alla Norma. In Sicily they produce a type of handmade long fresh fusilli called busiate.
Finally, in Italy they also prepare pizza alla Norma (as well as Pizza alla Puttanesca), decorated with aubergines and grated Pecorino.
For the «traditional recipe» of Pasta alla Norma, we listen to the advice of Luciano Pignataro, a Sicilian journalist who has been editing a food and culture blog about Sicily for many years.
The traditional preparation requires some time, especially for two steps:
salting the aubergines, this will take at least half an hour;
Making the tomato sauce starting from fresh tomatoes: which should cook over low heat for at least 40 minutes.
That according to the tradition. But as we write below, the first step - salting the aubergines - might not be always necessary; and if you don't have fresh, juicy tomatoes, you can always use good quality peeled tomatoes.
This makes our recipe both easier and quicker; and it is also how many in Italy usually make it.
👉 Of course, the dish we get will be different from the original pasta alla Norma they make in Sicily: above all for the exceptional quality of the ingredients found on the island.
| Ingredient image | Ingredient name | Cups | Grams | Ounces |
|
Rigatoni | 11.29 oz | 320 g | |
|
Eggplant | 1 piece | ||
|
Peeled tomatoes | 14.1 oz | 400 g | |
|
Ricotta salata (or Pecorino) | 5.3 oz | 150 g | |
|
Garlic | 2 cloves | ||
|
Basil | 10 leaves | ||
|
Extra Virgin Olive Oil | 2 teaspoons | ||
|
White wine | 2 teaspoons | ||
|
Salt | 1 pinch | ||
|
Black Pepper | 1 pinch |
As always, the secret of the recipe's success: use good quality products and prepare the ingredients with care, starting with the eggplant.
First, how do you cut the eggplant for alla Norma sauce? How you like. In the original recipe from Catania the eggplant is cut into slices, though it seems in the nearby city of Messina into cubes. We usually slice them because we like it that way.
In Italy, most recipes recommend salting the aubergines, letting them rest for half an hour and then rinsing them before preparing the sauce.
This is to remove the bitter taste.
But as the famous Italian cooking site Dissapore notes, the eggplants sold today no longer taste bitter.
So this extra step, which extends the preparation by 30 minutes, may not be necessary.
In any case, it is advisable to salt the aubergines if you fry them in oil; for flavour, but also to remove water and minimize oil splashes during frying.
According to the original Sicilian recipe you should fry the aubergines in oil.
We at All Italian are not big fans of fried food though. And We're glad that even in Sicily some also feel that way, and Pignataro confirms that the recipe is also acceptable with grilled aubergines.
Therefore we prepare the eggplant in a pan with only a couple teaspoons of olive oil.
The preparation of the original pasta alla Norma takes some time, also because the tomato sauce is made with fresh tomatoes; and the type of tomatoes they use in Catania is called costoluto catanese.
But even in many parts of Italy is not always easy to find juicy fresh tomatoes. That is why we recommend, for this recipe, to use good quality peeled tomatoes, such as those of type San Marzano.
San Marzano tomatoes have little to do with Sicily, and are instead a DOP product (Protected designation of origin) from the Agro Nocerino Sarnese, which is located in Campania, the region of Naples. These tomatoes are very juicy and full of flavour: in Italy we use them every day on pasta and pizza.
So if you don't have excellent fresh tomatoes from the garden, you can always use San Marzano peeled tomatoes; we also find them abroad, marketed by Mutti.
The recipe for Pasta alla Norma contains ricotta salata: a mature cheese typical of southern Italy.
But ricotta salata is hard to find outside Italy, so we can replace it with Pecorino.
Pecorino, like ricotta salata, is a hard cheese that you can grate on the dish before serving.
Some recipes use fresh ricotta: this is a big variation that differs from the original, as fresh ricotta has a less pronounced and naturally less salty taste.
Cut the eggplant first: into slices like in Catania, or into cubes like in Messina.
As we wrote above, you can decide to salt the eggplants, or remove the water, or neither.
It depends on the eggplant you use and your personal taste.
To salt the eggplants:
Cut the eggplant into slices or cubes
Sprinkle with coarse salt
Spread the eggplant slices on a cutting board and let them rest for half an hour. Separate each state with tissue paper
After half an hour, wash them under cold water to remove the salt.
You can also perform the same process but without using salt to remove the water.
In a pan, with abundant olive oil if you fry the eggplants; just with a drizzle of oil if you just grill them. We grill the sliced eggplants and then arrange them on a plate.
Pour cold water into a saucepan. Usually the recommended amount is 1 US quart / 1 liter water for every 3.5oz / 100g of pasta.
If you want to use less water to optimize cooking times, we recommend not using less than 0.7 US quarts / 0.7 liters per 3.5oz / 100g of pasta.
Heat the olive oil in a pan and add two cloves of peeled garlic.
The pan should be large enough to hold the pasta, which we will add towards the end of cooking.
Fry the garlic for a minute on low-to-medium heat.
Into the pan add the peeled tomatoes, a pinch of salt, a pinch of pepper and half of the basil leaves. Heat the tomato over low heat, stirring occasionally.
When the water boils, add a handful of coarse salt.
Wait a minute for the water to boil again, then add the pasta: 🔊 butta la pasta in Italian, literally throw the pasta.
See also our recipe for cooking pasta al dente.
Add the eggplant to the pan with the sauce; except for a few slices, which you might keep aside for decoration.
Mix the tomato sauce and eggplant and add half a ladle of pasta water. This way you get a creamier sauce.
Continue to cook the sauce over medium heat.
Two minutes before it is al dente, transfer the pasta from the cooking pot to the saucepan.
For short pasta you can use a slotted spoon, while a spaghetti spoon is suitable for long pasta.
Turn off the heat under the cooking pot and place the pan with the sauce over medium heat.
Leave the pasta water in the cooking pot, which you will need in the next step.
Mix the pasta thoroughly with the sauce. Add half a ladle of pasta water to make the sauce nice and creamy
Place the pasta on the plates; you can decorate it with a few slices of eggplant, a few basil leaves and especially with a nice sprinkling of grated ricotta salata - or Pecorino cheese.
Yoru Pasta alla Norma is ready. Buon appetito! 🍝
In the restaurant in Italy, when you finish eating, the waiter will ask: 🔊 andava tutto bene? (was everything fine?)
What does alla norma mean in Italian?
Doing something 🔊 alla norma, in Italian, means something according to the norm, as it should be. 🔊 Nella norma literally means in the norm.
Though it is not known whether this expression is related to the name of the pasta dish.
Norma is also the name of a famous opera by the great Sicilian composer Vincenzo Bellini; the most accredited hypotheses say that the name of the pasta is a tribute to the composer.
It should be noted that the world premiere of the Norma was performed by the soprano Giuditta Pasta, one of the most famous opera singers of the nineteenth century.
The Italian words we use on this page:
| 🔊 Melanzana | Eggplant |
| 🔊 Pomodoro | Tomato |
| 🔊 Aglio | Garlic |
In the recipe for pasta alla Puttanesca we wrote that it is a typical dish to be made with ingredients that you certainly already have at home, if you happen to live in Naples.
Likewise pasta alla Norma is the perfect dish to make with what you have in the garden, if you live in Sicily. Plus, of course, ricotta salata (literally salted ricotta).
This is to say that, no matter how hard we try, making pasta alla Norma like they do in Sicily is, outside the island, very difficult. Because of the ingredients, the climate and the atmosphere of course.
Pasta alla Norma is also popular outside Italy. Abroad, it is often mentioned among the traditional Italian dishes, such as Aglio e olio en Cacio e Pepe. Although these recipes actually originate from distinct areas of Italy.
We frequently update our pages on Italian pasta with new classic and regional traditional recipes.
I am Italian from Trentino. I studied philosophy in Padua and worked for many years between Milan and Amsterdam in the field of media and culture.
Since 2021 I write on All Italian to practice foreign languages; meanwhile I share with you the customs and traditions of my country, and the recipes that I prepare at home.
