Pasta alla Norma
Any type of food that has an attachment to Sicily perks my interest. I
will always stretch my limit for Sicilian gastronomy. Among the
regions of Italy, Sicily is one of my favorites. Not because my
husband's roots are from there but because the island is superior in
culture, history & gastronomy. Also noted are the people's
friendliness that can melt any icicle & the outstandingly preserved
ancient Greek & Moorish monuments scattered in the island.
On my first trip there 12 years ago, my husband and I stopped in an out
of the way restaurant because we were looking for an out of the way
monument that we couldn't find. It was a hard touristy life without the
navigator. Looking at the restaurant, I was thinking that we will eat
badly because the exterior inspires aversion to possible customers, but
it was very late and we were so hungry. They had the full 5 course menu
package for the day but there was no menu to choose from. You will
have to eat what they cooked. When we arrived at the main course, we
were already deeply rooted to our seats with very little space left for
dessert. The food was remarkable!
We pushed our limit for the dessert and refused the big basket of
fruit for ten people that the waiter was taking to our table. He was
aghast that we decided not to eat any fruit and he admonished us like
how parents do to their children. He's a jolly old fellow so there was
no offense taken at all. He wouldn't accept no for an answer and spent
a full five minute speech explaining to us the importance of eating
fresh fruit. Mmmm, it's a good thing I am not his kid. He left the
whole basket to us, convinced that his speech was effective. He kept a
watchful eye on us to see if we were eating. We struggled with half a
fruit each to please him but he was still clucking. Apparently, our
little fruit tribute to Mr. Fruit Waiter did not impress him at all. We
hurriedly paid and left before he gets the bright idea of sending us
the basket to finish. Italians have this thing about eating right and
healthy.
Pasta alla Norma's home in Sicily is Catania. It was born as a homage
to the finest work of the composer Vincenzo Bellini called Norma. The
five fundamental ingredients are basil, ricotta salata stagionata (aged ricotta salata cheese), tomato sauce
(See my recipe for simple tomato sauce.), fried aubergines and pasta
(Maccheroni specifically but nowadays, penne, spaghetti and some other
types of pasta are used.) In my case, I used elicopenna of Gragnano, a
type of pasta very similar to penne.
Pasta alla Norma
Ingredients:Serves 4
- 350 - 400 grams elicopenna (or penne rigate, spaghetti, maccheroni, etc.)
- 425 grams tomato sauce
- 2 medium aubergines (eggplants), cubed (or round)
- aged salted ricotta, grated
- basil leaves
- a lot of peanut oil (Safflower oil, sunflower oil & canola oil have high smoke points too that are perfect for fying.)
- Prepare the tomato sauce. Refer to the Simple Tomato Sauce recipe that I had posted. Instead of oregano, use basil.
- Boil some water for pasta. When it boils, add salt & cook the pasta following the cooking time suggested in the package.
- Deep fry the aubergines in hot oil. I prefer cubed aubergines from round slices.
- Mix the cooked pasta, a lot of basil leaves, tomato sauce, fried aubergines & as much ricotta salata stagionata you want.