Pasta alla Norma

This simple and delicious Sicilian dish, a summer staple, is named after the Island's most celebrated composer, Vincenzo Bellini. Scarlatti was also Sicilian, BTW. At any rate, this was Bellini's favorite dish so the people from his place of birth, Catania, named it after Bellini's most famous opera Norma. In my humble opinion it's the best Italian opera. He also wrote I puritani. La sunnambula and  Il pirata among others. All bel canto masterpieces.

This dish can be used with any pasta from spaghetti to rigatonis. I used mafaldine one of my favorite cuts.

The ingredients are, an eggplant, fresh plain tomato sauce, sliced ricotta salata, one clove of garlic, a small onion, some fresh basil and the usual spices along with a good pecorino cheese.. I add some breadcrumbs but this is optional. For a lighter taste ricotta can be substituted but the one sold stateside is pathetically insipid 

First get a fresh eggplant. Slice about one half and dice the other half into small cubes.. Fry in a mixture of corn and olive oil. I never salt the eggplants nor do I cut off the skin. I also never bread them. This is an Italian American development tat I abhor. 

Save the slices for finishing the dish. The cubes will be added to the tomato sauce. Cook the sauce slowly by covering a pot with good EVO, the garlic clove whole along with the whole onion. A few leaves of basil are great at this initial stage. When things sizzle add your tomatoes. Good canned tomatoes made into a pulp are great. Add salt to taste and a little sugar to reduce the acidity. When the sauce is almost done or in about 15 minutes, add the cubed eggplants and more basil always cut by hand. It's time to add the pasta to the salted boiling water. Lower the heat on the sauce. Two minutes before the indicated cooking time, place a skillet coated with good EVO on medium heat and add some sauce along with some pasta water. Save some pasta water and add the pasta to the skillet where it will finish cooking. Stir and aureate well. More pasta water should be added if things get dry. Add more basil and shut off the heat. Wait about 30 seconds and add the pecorino. Stir well. At this point I add the bread crumbs.

The dish is finished by spooning the pasta on a flat plate and adding more sauce, the slices of eggplants, the ricotta salata and a few basil leaves.

Delizioso

Buon Appetito