Lasagna alla Norma (meatless eggplant lasagna)

4.86 from 7 votes

Lasagna alla Norma (meatless eggplant lasagna)

A delicious combination of typical Mediterranean flavours in a baked version of pasta alla Norma, a traditional recipe from Sicily. A meatless eggplant lasagna that's perfect for summer meals..

Prep Time15

Cook Time45

Total Time1

Course: Main Course, starter

Cuisine: Italian, Sicilian, Southern Italian

Keyword: eggplant lasagna, eggplants, Lasagna alla Norma

Servings:

Calories: 414kcal

Author: Jacqui

Equipment

1 rectangular oven/lasagna pan
1 skillet to cook the tomato sauce
1 deep frying pan to fry eggplant slices
1 sharp knife to cut eggplant slices
1 large bowl to make ricotta cream

Ingredients

9 ounces lasagne pasta sheets I used fresh pasta sheets but dried with or without eggs are good too!
14 ounces canned peeled tomatoes I used canned peeled datterini
3.5 ounces tomato passata I used Cirio passata rustica
2-3 large eggplants I used 2 purple Sicilian eggplants
2-3 garlic cloves peeled
6 basil leaves torn ino pieces
7 ounces ricotta salata or aged feta .
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil for tomato sauce
vegetable or seed oil to fry eggplant
Black pepper and salt to taste

For ricotta cream

9 ounces fresh ricotta well drained
2 ounces whole milk
grated nutmeg to taste
salt to taste
black pepper to taste

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Start by preparing the tomato sauce

Heat up some oil in a frying pan or skillet. Add the peeled cloves of garlic and let them brown a little. Add the canned tomatoes and cook for 5-10 minutes until they start to soften
Add the passata, stir well and cook for another 10 minutes. Towards the end of cooking the sauce, add the torn basil leaves and salt and pepper to taste. Turn off the heat, remove the garlic and keep the sauce aside

The eggplants

Heat some oil in another frying pan. Cut the eggplants into slices and fry until both sides are golden. Eggplants absorb a lot of oil so you may need to add more. You can partially grill the eggplant slices before frying to make them less absorbent.
Put the ready slices onto kitchen paper or a grill rack to get rid of some of the oil. You can also just grill or oven cook the eggplant for a slightly healthier dish. Once drained cut half the eggplant slices into small pieces.

Now prepare the ricotta cream

Put the ricotta with the milk into a bowl. Mix with an immersion blender or fork to get a soft and homogeneous mixture similar to a Greek yogurt consistency. Add salt and pepper and a sprinkling of nutmeg. Grate the ricotta salata into a bowl and set aside.

Finish the dish

If you are using dried pasta you will need to blanch the sheets in salted boiling water before assembling the dish. Fresh pasta doesn't need to be pre-cooked.
Put a layer of tomato sauce in the bottom of a square or rectangular oven dish. Add a layer of pasta sheets on top of the tomato sauce
Add another layer of tomato sauce, then a layer of ricotta cream and then a layer of eggplant pieces. Sprinkle grated ricotta salata over the eggplant.
Add another layer of pasta, then tomato sauce, then ricotta cream and then eggplant pieces with a sprinkling of ricotta salata. Repeat. In total you will probably have 3-4 layers of pasta.
Finish off with tomato sauce, whole eggplant slices and grated ricotta salata. Optionally, you can also add a generous sprinkling of parmigiano cheese.
Bake in a preheated oven at 200 degrees for about 25 minutes (maybe less if the pasta is fresh). Cover with aluminium foil for the first 10-15 minutes. You can check if the pasta is cooked by putting a sharp knife into it.
Allow the lasagna to stand for 5-10 minutes before serving. Serve with extra grated ricotta salata if required.

Notes

You can use fresh tomatoes which you peel yourself instead of canned ones and aged feta cheese instead of ricotta salata. 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

I made this dish without precooking the pasta sheets as I used ready fresh lasagne sheets. However it is also possible to use dried lasagne sheets and blanch the pasta in boiling salted water beforehand. If you use normal dried pasta sheets, add a drizzle of olive oil to the water to prevent the sheets sticking togethr when you drain them.

You can also make your own homemade lasagne sheets.

By slightly grilling the eggplant slices before frying, they become drier and absorb less oil during frying.

Nutrition