Pasta alla norma

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Pasta all norma

Pasta alla norma is a traditional Italian pasta from Sicily with eggplant in a tomato sauce. It’s an excellent, meaty-like but vegetarian main dish that’s everything you want in a pasta – comforting, satisfying, and slurp-worthy good! 

Ingredients

  • Vegetable oil, to deep-fry
  • 1.2kg eggplant, cut into 4cm cubes
  • 150ml extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 small onion, finely chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 1 celery stalk, finely chopped
  • 1 long red chilli, chopped
  • 1/3 cup (90g) tomato paste
  • 2 cups (500ml) white wine
  • 1.2L tomato passata
  • 18 basil leaves, torn, plus extra, to serve
  • Cooked rigatoni, to serve
  • 100g pecorino, thinly shaved

Method:

  1. Heat 8-10cm of vegetable oil in a medium saucepan until 180°C (a cube of bread will turn golden in 60 seconds when the oil is hot enough).
  2. Fry eggplant, in batches, for 6 minutes or until golden. Transfer to a wire rack set over a tray to drain. 
  3. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook the onion and garlic, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes, or until softened. Add celery and chilli and cook, stirring occasionally, for 8 minutes or until tender. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring continuously, for 2 minutes, then add the wine, scraping bottom of pan with a spoon. Bring to the boil.
  4. Add passata and simmer, stirring occasionally, over low heat for 20 minutes. Add the eggplant and basil and simmer, stirring occasionally, for another 10 minutes.
  5. Season, toss through rigatoni and serve with pecorino and extra basil.

Recipe by Luca Muscato and Marco Salzano from Super Norma.