Why It Works
- Choosing dense, heavy eggplants and patiently frying them until caramelized and plump with olive oil results in a tender, meaty texture.
- If aged ricotta salata is unavailable, a combination of different cheeses can replicate its funky, salty, and sharp flavor.
The first time I had pasta alla norma—the Sicilian dish of pasta tossed with tomato sauce, sautéed eggplant, and ricotta salata—it was at a red sauce Italian joint in New York. I must admit I came away questioning whether the Sicilians really knew as much about fine food and good living as the movies give them credit for. It's not that pasta in an olive-oily red sauce or sautéed eggplant can't be great, it was more that I just didn't understand what they were all doing on a plate together, nor did I get why one would want to top a dish with a cheese so bland as ricotta salata. I mean, isn't condiment cheese supposed to pack a punch?
My next experience with it was many years later when I was working atCook's Illustrated.One of my colleagues was developing a recipe for it. Again, those same questions came up. Namely,what really makes this dish special?
Finally I reallygot it, and it took a trip all the way to the source to figure it out. When you're staying in Catania, the mid-sized city on the east coast of the island of Sicily, it's nearly impossible to avoid eating pasta alla normaat leastonce. It's on every single menu. The ingredients are used to top pizza. Even the ricotta salata sold in markets is advertised as being for pasta alla norma. I ordered it the first chance I could get, in the lovely rooftop restaurant at our hotel.
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What we got was not like any pasta alla norma I've seen in the States. Rather than mushy chunks of sautéed eggplant, the eggplant came in slices that had been slowly cooked in excellent extra-virgin olive oil until deeply burnished and caramelized, with an almost meaty texture. The pasta came coated in a rich tomato sauce lightly flavored with extra-virgin olive oil and basil.
The biggest shocker was the ricotta salata. Unlike the mildly salty, tame ricotta salata I'm used to from the States, this stuff was funky as all get out with a punchy barnyard flavor, an intense saltiness, and a savory aroma somewhere in between a good aged pecorino and a feta. It's the kind of cheese that ends up stinking up your whole bag when you try to smuggle home a chunk triple bagged, wrapped in plastic, and buried in your socks and underwear. This dish is just as much about the cheese as it is about anything else.No wonderI'd never understood it before—I may as well have been eating a different dish altogether.
Ever since tasting it in Sicily, I've been trying to replicate it with satisfactory results at home. I think I've got pretty close.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/__opt__aboutcom__coeus__resources__content_migration__serious_eats__seriouseats.com__images__2013__01__20130108-pasta-alla-norma-primary-b2641b8ee5854f43b6e986b9aca45d5a.jpg "Pasta Alla Norma (Sicilian Pasta With Eggplant, Tomatoes, and Ricotta Salata) Recipe (2)")
First off, the eggplant. In order to get that intense, meaty texture,I've found it essential to use very small, dense eggplants.Either Italian or Japanese eggplants do well, but theymustfeel heavy for their size. Cooking them is all about low, slow heat. Cook 'em too fast, and you end up charring them in spots before they've had a chance to fully tenderize.
While many eggplant recipes suggest purging them and pressing them before cooking, in this case, you actuallywantthem to suck up some oil—that olive oil? That's the flavor of Sicily.
The sauce is the easy part. A simple tomato sauce flavored with a bit of garlic, more olive oil, a pinch of pepper flakes, and a dash of oregano. Tomato paste helps give it body, which lets it cling to the fat, ridged pasta traditionally used for the dish, while whole peeled tomatoes crushed between your fingers leave nice juicy chunks of tomato.
The toughest part, predictably, was finding a suitable ricotta salata replacement. I happen to work across the street from DiPalo dairy, which imports the real deal from Sicily. I know. Lucky me, right?
Fortunately, there are good options right there in your supermarket. Worst case scenario, you can always use parmesan. It's notquitethe same, but it'll serve the same function.Much better would be to seek out different aged sheep's milk cheese.An aged caciocavallo works wonderfully well, but even a good sheep's milk feta will come close to capturing that salty funk. The best combination of common cheeses I could find was to use a half-and-half blend of grated Pecorino Romano and feta cheese, the former for its savory punch, the latter for its salty, juicy texture.
January 2013
Recipe Details
Pasta Alla Norma (Sicilian Pasta With Eggplant, Tomatoes, and Ricotta Salata) Recipe
Cook40 mins
Active30 mins
Total40 mins
Serves4 servings
Ingredients
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for serving
3/4 pound small Italian or Japanese eggplants (2 to 3 small eggplants), trimmed, split in half lengthwise, and cut into 3/8-inch half moons (see notes)
Kosher salt
3 medium cloves garlic, minced (about 1 tablespoon)
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 (28-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, crushed by hand into 1/2-inch chunks
1 pound dry ridged, tubular pasta such as rigatoni or penne rigate
Handful fresh small basil leaves, or roughly torn large leaves
2 ounces agedricotta salata, finely grated (see notes)
Directions
Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a 12-inch nonstick or cast iron skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add as much eggplant as fits in a single layer and season with salt. Cook, shaking pan occasionally, until eggplant is well browned on both sides, about 10 minutes total. Transfer eggplant to a plate and set aside. Repeat with remaining eggplant, adding olive oil as necessary, until all eggplant is browned.
Add any remaining olive oil and increase heat to medium-high. Heat until olive oil is shimmering. Add garlic, oregano, and pepper flakes, and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant but garlic is not browned, about 30 seconds. Add tomato paste and cook, stirring constantly until evenly incorporated and tomato paste starts to fry. Add crushed tomatoes and their juice. Bring to a boil, reduce to a bare simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid is thickened into a sauce-like consistency, about 10 minutes. Season to taste with salt.
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook pasta according to package directions. Drain pasta, reserving 1 cup of cooking liquid. Return pasta to pot.
Add sauce to pasta and toss to coat, adding reserved pasta water as necessary to thin sauce to desired consistency. Add eggplant slices and toss to combine.
Serve pasta immediately, drizzled with extra-virgin olive oil, garnished with grated ricotta salata and torn basil leaves.
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Notes
Look for eggplants that are smooth-skinned, firm, and dense.
Most of the ricotta salata sold in the U.S. is un-aged and milder than is required for this recipe. Look for aged imported ricotta salata at an Italian specialty market, or substitute caciocavallo, or a mix of feta (preferably sheep's milk) and Pecorino Romano cheese.
Read More
- Pasta chi Vruoccoli Arriminati (Sicilian Pasta With Cauliflower and Toasted Breadcrumbs)
- Pasta c'Anciuova e Muddica Atturrata (Sicilian Pasta With Anchovies and Toasted Breadcrumbs)
- Pasta Con le Sarde (Sicilian Pasta With Sardines)
