Why are they called Rigatoni alla Norma? Maybe because it was Bellini’s favorite dish or because “Norma” was the best dish? The fact is that the two eastern cities Messina and Catania contribute to understanding where this dish was born. And anyway, the Messinesi brothers don’t want it, but the “Norma”, in the common imagination, is that of Catania. The characteristics of this pasta embrace all the Mediterranean, sauce, aubergines, basil, oil. And just like the work that at the beginning did not seem to be very successful, this dressing also seemed particularly “poor”, but incredibly tasty. Only the skill of the chefs has brought this dish to the tables of all international restaurants, making it one of the typical dishes of our Sicilian style. And rigatone is an interpreter of excellence, with its callosity and its lines, the sauce slips light, giving the right flavor to the oldest and most delicious combination that we can not only imagine, but taste. And last but not least … we really should say salsum in fundo, a nice sprinkling of salted ricotta that makes, even more, enhance the flavor of eggplant and sauce. They say that appetite comes by eating … in this case also by reading!

CHEF

Chef

KITCHEN

Palermitana

DIFFICULTY

Easy

SOCIAL

DATA FOR PREPARATION

25 min
Prep

60 min
Cooking

85 min
Total

4 People
Doses

Recipe

INGREDIENTS
  • Rigatoni 350/400gr
  • Eggplant500 g
  • Cloves garlic 2
  • Fresh basil 10 g
  • Ricotta salata 200 g
  • Extra virgin olive oil 1 filo

  • Auburn tomatoes 850 g

  • Fine salt q.b.
PREPARATION

  • To prepare the pasta alla Norma, take the auburn tomatoes and rinse them; then, dry them and cut them into quarters. In a deep-bottomed pan, often pour a drizzle of oil and fry two clean and whole cloves of garlic, so if you wish, you can remove them.

  • When the garlic has suffered a few moments, pour the tomatoes and cook over very low heat, covering with a lid; cook for about twenty minutes until the tomatoes are soft and have released the sauce. Once ready, transfer them to a vegetable mill placed on a bowl and pass them in order to obtain a juicy and smooth pulp.

  • Transfer everything back to the pan and salt; cook again for 10-15 minutes until it has shrunk. Then boil a pan with plenty of salty water to boil and once boiled, add salt. Meanwhile, wash the aubergines, dry them well and tick them; therefore, cut them into slices of a few mm or into cubes, it depends on your taste.

  • Fry the aubergines in abundant extra virgin olive oil heated to a temperature of 170 ° without exceeding them. As they are golden brown, drain them with a slotted spoon and transfer them to a sheet of fried paper to absorb the excess oil. Then salt them to taste.

  • Cook the pasta al dente and when it is almost ready, pour the basil leaves into the sauce over a low heat, stir and add the drained pasta directly into the pan. Mix well to flavor.

  • Transfer the pasta to the serving dishes, season with abundant fried eggplant slices each portion; Finally, add the salted ricotta. Serve your pasta alla Norma with a few slices of aubergine placed in the center of the table, so that diners can add as many as they wish!

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