Pasta alla Norma is a very simple but seriously tasty dish from the city of Catania in Sicily. It is usually made with pasta tubes such as rigatoni or penne rigate seasoned with tomato sauce and with the addition of fried eggplant, grated ricotta salata and basil.
I have to confess that before meeting my Sicilian hubby Salvatore, I had never eaten pasta alla Norma. Now, of course, I have lost count of how many times I’ve enjoyed this classic and famous Sicilian pasta recipe. My hubby has cooked it for me, his mum and sisters have cooked it for me and I’ve eaten it in Sicily.
I have made an 'alla Norma' baked lasagna which was pretty good! But, this is my hubby’s recipe and since he hails from Catania, I guess you can’t get much more authentic than this! There are a number of other pasta alla Norma recipes out there which include ingredients such as capers, wine, onions, pecorino etc. but, the classic alla Norma is extremely simple and makes use of only a few ingredients.
A little pasta alla Norma history.
There are a few theories on how this dish got its name. ‘Norma’ is an opera by Vincenzo Bellini, who was born in Catania. One commonly quoted story is that the name was created by Nino Martoglio, a Sicilian writer, poet and theatre director, who loved this dish so much that he compared it to Bellini’s operatic masterpiece.
Another story is that while Bellini was writing his masterpiece, he regularly went to a restaurant and ordered just this dish of pasta, so the owner finally named it after the opera in honour of his famous customer. Some say that at that time, the dish was plated in a slightly different way to make it look like Sicily’s famous volcano, Etna. The eggplant was placed at the bottom, a hill of pasta was piled on top of the eggplant and the tomato sauce with grated ricotta salata covered everything!
The main ingredients for pasta alla Norma.
Eggplants!
Introduced to Sicily by the Arabs in about 900AD, eggplants are to Sicily what potatoes are to Ireland. There are three main types of eggplants found on the island; the very dark oval or long ones that most people outside of Italy know, oval zebra eggplants which have a lighter striped skin and the more rotund, lighter coloured Sicilian eggplant.
The latter are what my husband used for this recipe. This eggplant has a dense whiter flesh and less seeds than the more common eggplant. But, of course, you can use whichever kind you find.
Tomatoes!
When it comes to the tomatoes, fresh is best especially if you can get hold of San Marzano tomatoes. However, a good quality Italian passata rustica or tinned whole tomatoes from Italy work well too. Alternatively you can use a mixture of fresh tomatoes and passata. This time we used just passata.
The cheese!
As with many pasta recipes, cheese is more than mere seasoning for pasta alla Norma. You can’t have it without the cheese which really should be ricotta salata. This is a typical Sicilian cheese. The word 'ricotta' means re-cooked and 'salata' means salted. Ricotta Salata is cheese made from the whey of sheep’s milk, which is pressed, salted and aged for at least 90 days. It is milky white in colour with a firm texture and salty taste.
Ricotta salata can be bought from Italian speciality food shops or online, but if you can’t find it, you can use feta, preferably aged feta. You will need to let the feta dry out a bit before grating it. Just pat it dry with kitchen paper and leave it to dry out at room temperature for a couple of hours.
The pasta!
As I mentioned above pasta alla Norma is traditionally made with short pasta tubes such as rigatoni. We used rigatoni from pasta makers Liguori. This company is located in Gragnano near Naples. Gragnano is famous for its dried pasta. In fact, they have been making pasta there for more than 500 years! And, I think some of the best Italian pasta comes from there! However, you can use other pasta tubes or even spaghetti.
Let me know what you think.
In Catania, families traditionally place the remaining ricotta salata with the grater and a plate with extra fried eggplant slices in the middle of the table. As they eat their pasta alla Norma, they often add extra cheese and eggplant along the way! Not a bad idea!
If you do try this pasta alla Norma, I’d love to hear what you think. Please write a comment here on the blog or post a comment on the Pasta Project Facebook page.
Your feedback means a lot to me!
Buon Appetito!
SAVE THIS RECIPE FOR LATER?
If you want to save this recipe for later, you can print it, bookmark this page or save it to Pinterest.
Other classic Sicilian pasta recipes to try.
- Pasta con sarde with sardines and wild fennel
- Baked anelletti
- Pasta with ricotta and pistachio pesto
- Spaghetti with salt cod (baccalà)
This recipe was first published in 2017, but it has been updated with new photos and text.
Pasta alla Norma
Ingredients
- 400 g Rigatoni (14oz) or other pasta tubes
- 500 g San Marzano tomatoes (1lb) or tomato passata or half and half
- 2-4 eggplants Depending on size
- 3 garlic cloves peeled
- 10-12 basil leaves chopped
- 150 g Ricotta Salata (5oz) grated
- extra virgin olive oil. as required
- salt for pasta water and to taste
- ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cut the eggplants into slices and place them in layers in a dish or colander with some salt sprinkled between the slices. Let them sweat for 30 minutes to draw out the moisture. When ready rinse off the salt and pat dry.
Prepare the tomato sauce;
- If you are using fresh tomatoes, peel them by immersing them in boiling water and then cold water and then removing the skin. Cut them in half, remove most of the pips and chop them into pieces
- Heat up 4 tablespoons olive oil in a frying pan or skillet, Add the peeled cloves of garlic and let them brown a little.
- Add the chopped tomatoes and cook for 5-10 minutes until they start to soften.
- Add the passata, stir well, add a pinch of salt and cook for another 10 minutes (20 minutes if you are using only passata)
Fry the eggplants;
- Fry the eggplant slices in plenty of hot olive oil until they turn golden on each side, dry them with kitchen paper if required, then cut some of them into small squares (leave at least one slice for each person).
- Add some of these squares to the saucepan of tomato sauce (leave enough to add a few to each person’s plate)
Cook the pasta;
- Cook the pasta al dente in boiling salted water, drain it and add it to the sauce, which may need to be reheated first if you cooked it earlier. Add black pepper to taste and the basil. Mix the pasta and the sauce together well.
How to serve alla Norma;
- Put one whole fried eggplant slice into the bottom of each plate, cover with the pasta and sauce, add a few more squares of fried eggplant and sprinkle with grated ricotta salata. Serve immediately
Notes
Nutrition
Want to know more about my life in Italy? Why not subscribe to my newsletter? New subscribers get a free series of recipe e-books too!
If you are interested in learning how to make homemade pasta and different types of gnocchi, check out my shop page for some great video online courses from my friends in Rome! Nothing beats learning to make pasta from Italians! Plus while you’re there why not order a copy of my newly published autumn/winter pasta recipes cookbook?
Mary says
The pasta ALLA NORMA was delicious and I enjoyed reading about the history of it. I made the dish to celebrate my daughter’s job promotion and it was a hit.
I used 500g canned tomatoes as I didn’t have fresh and wanted to have more tomato texture than the passata, and cooked this for 20 minutes.
For the sliced eggplant - how large a slice? 12mm? 25mm? I fried the eggplant in my dutch oven and then used that vessel to cook the sauce, to mimimize my cleaning. Next time I’ll try roasting the eggplant to reduce the amount of oil in the recipe.
I liked the way the pasta was plated, with a slice of the golden eggplant and then topped with the sauce. Thanks Jacqui!
Jacqui says
Thanks for your review Mary. I'm happy you liked this pasta alla Norma recipe. I think you can make the eggplant slices as thick as you want them. There's no set rule. It's true that eggplant absorbs a lot of olive oil when fried which can make the recipe oily. I usually leave the fried eggplant on kitchen paper to let the oil drain before adding to the dish. Alternatively, baking the eggplant is a good idea but the flavor will be a little different.
Lindy says
I can't wait to try this! My "hubby" has a strong Italian & Polish ancestry. He makes a dish called "Pastacena" (pasta supper/dinner) that's very unique. He's always complaining, though l, that he can't seem to find the rigatoni of his childhood, which he swears was a rectangular pasta tube similar to a rigatoni noodle in all other ways except for the uniqueness of a longer top/bottom side to the noodle and shorter sides. Have you ever seen these and if so could you share your source? Love all your recipes--thanks!
Jacqui says
Hi Lindy, thanks for your comment. I've been trying to think of which pasta your husband is referring to. Perhaps canneroni rigati or tortiglioni? These are both pasta tubes with grooves like rigatoni. Does the pasta your husband remembers have grooves?
Krystel says
Came out great and everyone loved it!
Nora says
I love this Pasta! It was so flavorful! Thanks for this wonderful recipe!
Ramona says
I made this recipe for dinner last night and we loved it! Even my son who is not an aubergine fan loved it. Absolutely delicious and will make it again.
Oscar says
I just made Pasta alla Norma, and it's seriously tasty! The tomato sauce, fried eggplant, grated ricotta salata, and basil make it a simple yet delicious dish.
Stephanie says
Such a delicious pasta dish! Even my Italian mother-in-law raved about how great it turned out.
Gloria says
Simple ingredients are all it takes to make the most delicious pasta ever. We could eat pasta every night of the week. Just add a nice glass of wine, and this is better than any restaurant meal.
Roy Movrich says
I read in a book of pasta by Oretta Zanini de Vita that this dish is correctly called "norma" (small "n"). The story goes that Angelo Musco, an actor who was working with Nino Martoglio on a new play, was overwhelmed by the spaghetti dish Martoglio's wife served for lunch. He is said to have exclaimed in the Catanese dialect “Donna Marietta, ma chisti non è ca su’ dui fila di pasta, chista è na norma...” (Donna Marietta, this is not just a plate of spaghetti; this is a marvel!). And so "norma", the Catanese word for "marvel" became the name of this dish.
Maybe Signore Salvatore could verify this version of the story?
But whatever the story, your version of norma/Norma is indeed a marvel!
bill says
Iv'e made this dish countless times since I found it here.
Sometimes I make the sauce with anchovies for a change, and I have to use feta cheese because I can't find salted ricotta, but it's an excellent and easy dish.
Jan says
Did it yesterday. Really good. Love this site.
Simone says
Really nice recipe! Will it be okay if I pop the eggplant slices in the oven instead of frying them?
Jacqui says
Hi Simone, thanks for your comment. Yes, you can bake the eggplant slices. However, they won't be quite as flavourful as the fried ones. But definitely easier and healthier! Let me know how your alla Norma turns out. I'm sure you'll enjoy it!
Genevieve | Fitty Foodlicious says
This pasta recipe looks super delicious! Love the use of eggplant too!
Jacqui says
Thanks for your comment Genevieve, I think the eggplant is the star of this traditional Sicilian pasta dish. Adds so much flavour!
Chef Dennis says
I just saw this made on Stanley Tucci's show, thanks for the recipe!
Loreto and Nicoletta Nardelli says
We love Pasta all Norma! Such a simple, tasty dish! As usual, with Italian cooking, a few good quality ingredients, create a symphony of flavors.
Natalie says
Thank you for sharing this lovely story about pasta and a wonderful recipe. It looks absolutely delicious. I'm such a huge fan of pasta, and I love trying out new recipes. Can't wait to make this one.
Alex says
I love that it doesn't use so many ingredients! Sometimes simple is really best. I don't have time for fussy so this is perfect for my family.
Erin says
My kid just loves eggplants but I never know what to do with them! I totally need to try this. It looks so simple but tasty!
Julie says
What a great pasta dish! The flavors in this rigatoni and so comforting and it came out fabulous. I can't wait to make it again soon.