Pasta alla Norma

Tags: #italian #pasta #sicilian Serving: 4 servings Total time: 60 minutes

A Sicilian classic marrying al dente pasta with golden fried eggplant, a bright tomato-basil sugo, and salty ricotta salata.

Ingredients

• 320 g dried rigatoni
• 700 g eggplant
• 800 g whole peeled tomatoes (canned)
• 40 ml extra-virgin olive oil
• 300 ml light olive oil (for frying)
• 120 g ricotta salata
• 10 g garlic
• 10 g fresh basil leaves
• 40 g fine sea salt
• 3,000 ml water

Steps

1. Wash the eggplant.
2. Trim the eggplant ends.
3. Cut the eggplant into 2 cm cubes.
4. Set a colander over a bowl.
5. Transfer the eggplant to the colander.
6. Sprinkle the eggplant with 6 g fine sea salt.
7. Toss the eggplant to coat.
8. Let the eggplant drain for 30 minutes.
9. Peel the garlic.
10. Crush the tomatoes by hand in a bowl.
11. Pour 30 ml extra-virgin olive oil into a saucepan.
12. Add the garlic to the saucepan.
13. Cook the garlic over medium heat until pale golden, 1–2 minutes.
14. Add the crushed tomatoes and their juices to the saucepan.
15. Simmer the sauce over medium-low heat for 20 minutes.
16. Rinse the eggplant under cold water.
17. Pat the eggplant dry thoroughly with paper towels.
18. Pour 300 ml light olive oil into a deep skillet.
19. Heat the oil to 180°C.
20. Fry one-third of the eggplant until deep golden, 5–7 minutes.
21. Lift the fried eggplant to a rack or paper towels.
22. Repeat frying with the remaining eggplant in two batches.
23. Sprinkle the fried eggplant with 1 g fine sea salt.
24. Remove the garlic from the tomato sauce.
25. Tear 6 g basil leaves into the sauce.
26. Season the sauce with 3 g fine sea salt.
27. Pour 3,000 ml water into a large pot.
28. Bring the water to a rolling boil.
29. Stir 30 g fine sea salt into the boiling water.
30. Add 320 g rigatoni to the pot.
31. Cook the pasta until al dente, following package time minus 1 minute.
32. Reserve 150 ml pasta cooking water.
33. Drain the pasta.