Pasta alla norma

Last Updated on August 3, 2023

Pasta alla norma or pasta rigatoni (short thick macaroni) topped with tomato sauce with eggplant and other ingredients, garnished with grated cheese and basil leaves. It can be served as a main course or as a warm starter.

Ingredients:

Range for 4-5 servings: 1 package of rigatoni pasta (short thick macaroni) 500 g of Sugo Italian sauce (can be replaced with tomato puree) 120 g of hard salted ricotta 10 pieces basil leaves and sprigs for garnish 2 pcs round Sicilian eggplants (ours can be used as well) 2 pcs garlic cloves extra virgin olive oil sunflower oil water pepper salt

Procedure:

1. First, cut the eggplant into slices about 1 cm thick, salt and set aside for 30 minutes to get rid of any bitterness, coat the washed slices in plain flour and fry in hot sunflower oil until golden brown
2. Cook the pasta in lightly salted water al dente, rinse the cooked pasta with cold water and let it drain thoroughly
3. In a separate pan, fry the crushed garlic and a few basil leaves in olive oil, remove the garlic, add the tomato sauce or puree and the chopped fried aubergine to the pan
4. Finally, sprinkle the paste with grated cheese, drizzle with olive oil and garnish with basil leaves.

Recommendation:

Sugo sauce can be bought or you can prepare it at home. Here is the recipe.