Learn to cook pasta alla Norma, a classic Sicilian dish loaded with fresh eggplant and salty ricotta salata cheese. I'll teach you tips and tricks from Italian culinary school to keep this dish authentic.
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While attending culinary school in Italy, pasta alla Norma quickly became one of my favorite dishes!
Pasta alla Norma is an eggplant based dish from the region of Sicily. Even though I studied in the Calabria region, I was able to travel to Sicily and try this dish in the area where it was born.
While it can be made with a variety of pasta shapes, two staples in authentic Italian pasta alla Norma include fresh, in-season eggplant and ricotta salata (a salty, aged cheese).
I've done my best to keep this dish authentic, using the traditional techniques that I learned in school. This dish is perfect to make if you want to try regional Italian cuisine from Southern Italy.
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What You'll Learn In This Recipe
- How to make a simple tomato sauce. This is a great recipe all on its own!
- Tips for cooking pasta like they do in Italy.
- Where to find some of the specialty Italian ingredients.
Want to learn even more tricks? Sign up for my free email guide with 9 easy tips to improve your pasta.
Ingredients You Need
- Extra virgin olive oil: Extra virgin olive oil is at the heart of Italian cooking. Find a good-tasting, high-quality olive oil that you enjoy.
- Carrots/red onion: This is the base of the simple tomato sauce. You can use yellow onion if you'd prefer.
- Canned whole peeled tomatoes: I prefer canned tomatoes for their ease and convenience. However, you can easily blanch fresh tomatoes and use them in place of canned.
- Eggplant: Italians always cook with in-season, fresh ingredients. The better the eggplant, the better the taste of this dish.
- Dried rigatoni pasta: I prefer to use rigatoni for this recipe, but you can use paccheri, boccole, or another shape that you prefer!
- Ricotta salata: This is an aged cheese that is known for being very salty. Be sure to account for this added salty bite when making pasta alla Norma. Since this is a specialty ingredient that can be hard to find, I'd suggest going to an Italian market to purchase it.
Check out the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and exact measurements.
How To Make This Recipe
Let me show you step-by-step how to make Italian pasta alla Norma with some tricks that I learned in culinary school.
1. Let's start by making a simple tomato sauce, the base to pasta alla Norma. Add extra virgin olive oil, carrots, and onions to a large saucepan over medium heat and cook until softened.
2. Crush the canned tomatoes with your hands directly into the saucepan. Add any leftover tomato juice still in the can to the saucepan.
3. Simmer for 10 minutes until the flavors marry together. Once cooked down, taste and season with black pepper and Morton kosher salt to taste.
4. Puree with an immersion blender or in the container of a blender until the sauce is smooth.
5. Next, it's time to bring the dish together! Cook the eggplant with extra virgin olive oil until it's softened and is golden brown. I like to do this in two batches so I don't overcrowd the pan.
Don't forget to salt the eggplant when it's done cooking. Seasoning is very important to get the best-tasting dish!
6. Add the eggplant to the simple tomato sauce and cook over medium high heat for about 3 minutes.
7. Then, place the rigatoni pasta in the boiling water and cook until al dente (still very firm).
8. Transfer the al dente pasta to the tomato sauce and stir vigorously on high heat until the pasta has slightly softened (it should still have a bite) and the sauce has slightly thickened.
Finally, plate and garnish with ricotta salata and basil.
Expert Tips
- It's really important to use enough salt and pepper to ensure the dish is properly seasoned.
- Can't find ricotta salata? No problem! Substitute for pecorino or parmesan cheese.
- Don't overcook the pasta! It's really important, especially in Italy, for the pasta to still have a somewhat firm bite to it. This is a skill that can take some time to master, but you can practice by making pasta alla Norma.
Recipe FAQs
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 7 days. Reheat in the microwave or on the stove over medium high heat until warmed through.
Yes, simply peel the eggplant, then chop it up as instructed in the recipe below.
Yes, but first you'll need to blanch the tomatoes. Here's how:
- Boil a large pot of water over high heat.
- Score the bottom of each tomato with a small "X". I like to use a pairing knife for this.
- Add a small amount of tomatoes to the boiling water and cook for 30 to 90 seconds until you start to see the skins split open.
- Finally, remove them from the boiling water and transfer them to an ice bath to stop the cooking.
- Then, you can peel the skin and use the tomatoes in the simple tomato sauce.
More Italian Pasta Recipes
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Italian Pasta alla Norma (Eggplant Pasta)
Equipment
- saucepan
- immersion blender (or regular blender)
- saute pan
Ingredients
Simple Tomato Sauce
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup finely diced carrots
- ¼ cup finely diced red onion
- 56 ounces canned whole peeled tomatoes
- finely ground black pepper to taste
- Morton kosher salt to taste
Pasta alla Norma
- coarse sea salt for boiling
- ¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1.2 pounds eggplant cut into ½ inch or 1 cm cubes (about 1 large eggplant or 5 cups)
- Morton kosher salt to taste
- 1 pound dried rigatoni pasta
- finely ground black pepper to taste
- 8 ounces ricotta salata coarsely grated (about 1 cup)
- basil for garnish (optional)
Instructions
For Simple Tomato Sauce
- Add extra virgin olive oil, carrots, and onions to a large saucepan over medium heat and cook until softened.
- Crush the canned tomatoes with your hands directly into the saucepan. Add in any leftover tomato juice still in the can to the saucepan. Simmer for 10 minutes until the flavors marry together. Stir occasionally to ensure the bottom doesn't burn. If you notice the sauce bubbling too intensely, turn down the heat slightly.
- Once cooked down, taste and season with black pepper and Morton kosher salt to taste. Puree with an immersion blender or in the container of a blender until the sauce is smooth.
For Pasta alla Norma
- Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil over high heat and season generously with coarse salt.
- Heat ½ cup (100 grams) extra virgin olive oil in a large saute pan over medium high heat. Once hot, add half of the eggplant and allow to cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and golden brown, about 10 minutes. Remove from the pan and season to taste with Morton kosher salt. Set aside. Add the remaining ¼ cup (50 grams) extra virgin olive oil and eggplant to the pan and cook for 10 minutes. Remove from the pan and season with Morton kosher salt.
- Add the eggplant to the simple tomato sauce and cook over medium high heat for about 3 minutes.
- Add the rigatoni pasta to the boiling water and cook until al dente (still very firm).
- Transfer al dente pasta to the tomato sauce, and stir vigorously on high heat until the pasta has slightly softened (it should still have a bite) and the sauce slightly thickens.
- Taste and add additional Morton kosher salt and black pepper as needed. Plate and garnish with ricotta salata and optionally basil.
Notes
- Boil a large pot of water over high heat.
- Score the bottom of each tomato with a small "X". I like to use a pairing knife for this.
- Add a small amount of tomatoes to the boiling water and cook for 30 - 90 seconds until you start to see the skins split open.
- Finally, remove them from the boiling water and transfer to an ice bath to stop the cooking.
- Then, you can peel the skin and use the tomatoes in the simple tomato sauce.
Sam
I tired this dish while traveling in Sicily, and I was so excited to learn how to make it at home.
Jessica Mode
Hey Sam! Glad you enjoyed it! This was one of my favorite dishes while I was in Italy too!