DISH RESEARCH · Main dish
Pasta alla Norma
GIC Kitchen’s pasta alla Norma coats boccole pasta with a simple tomato sauce and golden shallow-fried aubergine. Shaved ricotta salata and torn basil leaves finish the dish.
About Pasta alla Norma
Research draft based on the references below. These notes describe particular recipes and presentations; ingredient connections are still being reviewed.
Great Italian Chefs presents GIC Kitchen’s pasta alla Norma as a Sicilian preparation associated with Catania. This recipe selects boccole, whose ridges and large openings the publisher describes as holding sauce and pieces of aubergine.
The aubergine is diced and sprinkled with salt to draw out moisture. Separately, minced garlic softens in olive oil before the canned San Marzano tomatoes are added and simmered until the sauce thickens slightly.
The aubergine is rinsed, patted dry and shallow-fried in olive oil until golden. It is drained on kitchen paper before joining the pasta and sauce.
Boccole cooks in heavily salted boiling water until al dente, then is drained and tossed with the tomato sauce and aubergine. The sauce coats the pasta while the aubergine pieces remain part of the mixture.
Shavings of ricotta salata and torn basil leaves are added to finish. The publisher describes this cheese as pressed and salted ricotta, and discusses other household variations separately from its selected recipe.
Ingredients in Pasta alla Norma
Recorded ingredient connections, rather than a complete recipe. Explore an ingredient for more detail.
- Dried pastabase
- Eggplantbase
- Olive oilcooking medium
- Garlicseasoning
- Basilgarnish
- Salted ricottatopping
- Saltseasoning
- Tomatosauce
Ingredient connections awaiting review. Versions and preparation vary.
Origins & food traditions
Explore the countries and cooking traditions associated with this dish. These connections do not establish a single birthplace or limit where the dish is eaten today.
Countries
Cuisines & regions
Associations in the cited sources
These describe source-specific cultural or geographic connections. Catalogue links may still need review.
- Cooking traditions
- Sicilian