"Pasta alla Norma is one of the most famous and traditional pasta dish from Sicily! I love Sicilian food and I love Sicily! The traditional recipe is very simple as it consists of 4 main ingredients: Pasta, fresh tomatoes, eggplants and ricotta salata - it's DELICIOUS!
During one of my holidays in Sicily, I went to my friend Ottavio's home and his mum cooked for us the best Pasta alla Norma I have ever eaten. I can still remember the sweet and juicy tomato sauce and the perfectly fried eggplants. Difficult to describe with words :)! Ottavio taught me how to prepare it and during these times at home in San Francisco I wanted to bring back and live those flavors and memories!
In my recipe I had to replace the original ricotta salata with some vegan cheese (I picked a cashew cheese) as I cannot have dairy."
Rigatoni alla Norma
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Prep time 30mins
Cook time 10mins
Serves or Makes: 2
Recipe Card
ingredients
- 180 pounds Rigatoni
- 1 pounds Eggplant
- 12 Cherry Tomatoes
- To Taste Vegan Cheese
- To Taste Fresh Basil
- clove Garlic
- To Taste Extra-virgin Olive Oil
- To Taste Freshly Ground Black Pepper
- To Taste Sea Salt
Method
Step 1
Dice the eggplant (cut cubes the size of a thumb) and sprinkle salt on top of each cube in order to remove the excess water. Let it rest for 10 minutes.
Step 2
Heat 4 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil in a pan and fry the eggplant until they become golden brown (usually cook for 10 minutes).
Step 3
Once cooked, let the eggplant cubes rest on a paper towel to remove the excess oil.
Step 4
In a wok, simmer a clove of garlic with extra-virgin olive oil until it becomes golden.
Step 5
Cut the cherry tomatoes into 2 pieces and add them to the wok.
Step 6
Once the cherry tomatoes are fully cooked, add basil and turn low heat.
Step 7
Boil water in a pot and once the water is boiling add the pasta. The pasta needs to cook for 2 mins less than the time recommended on the box.
Step 8
While the pasta is boiling add 2/3 tablespoons of the pasta water into the wok. This water will add a creamy texture to the pasta sauce.
Step 9
Add half of the eggplant cubes to the wok with the cherry tomato sauce.
Step 10
Drain the pasta and add it to the wok. Continue to stir until sauce is fully mixed with the pasta. Add some freshly ground black pepper.
Step 11
Plate the pasta and season it with some eggplant cubes, freshly chopped basil and the grated vegan cheese.