I’m HOOKED On This SICILIAN Pasta

This classic Pasta alla Norma Recipe of simmered tomato sauce with flash-fried fresh eggplant with cheese and basil is an excellent weeknight meal to serve to family and friends. You will love this simple-to-prepare, full-flavored pasta.

→ Recipe: PRINT THIS RECIPE: https://www.billyparisi.com/pasta-alla-norma/

→ Ingredients
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• ½ peeled finely grated yellow onion
• 2 finely grated garlic cloves
• 2 28-ounce cans of whole peeled San Marzano tomatoes, blended until smooth
• 20 fresh basil leaves
• 1 pound tubular pasta like penne rigate or rigatoni
• 1 medium-sized skin on eggplant cut into 1-inch pieces about 12 ounces
• ¼ cup avocado oil
• 1 cup grated Ricotta Salata cheese
• coarse salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste

Watch more recipe videos:
Pasta Carbonara: https://youtu.be/coWml3by3Mw?si=P2281mnF_50eKOTP
Penne all Vodka: https://youtu.be/ViTbqb3byuU?si=ej7nsGmERxpZXc_P

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Pasta Alan Norma is the one dish I’ve been desperately trying to avoid and simply because it uses an ingredient I do not like at all eggplant yeah I know I’m a bad Sicilian especially since this dish was created in Sicily however I’m going to do everything in my power to

Try and pull out as much flavor as possible to make this as delicious as I can which means no soggy eggplant it’s time to see what I’m made of sound good let’s cook all righty we need need a half of a yellow onion you could also

Use a red white or Sweet Slice off the end slice it in half remove that outside peel and then using a fine grater I want to grate that half onion into a bowl I do not want big pieces I want it to easily Infuse into our pomodoro sauce

Next I’m going to finally grate two whole garlic cloves we’re going to go right into that same bowl with the onions then we’re taking it over to our cook toop where I have a large 5q sauce pot but of course you could use any any pot that works for you we’re next going

To add in 3 tbspoon of olive oil we’re going to turn the heat up to medium and let that oil heat up for about 30 to 45 seconds then we’re going to add in our onions and garlic slightly spread them out and then give them a gentle season

Of course Salt to help draw out some moisture so that they Brown quicker we are going to saute these for a total of 2 minutes while frequently stirring or just until you start to see some of the onions and garlic lightly brown up just like this then turn the heat from medium

Down to low and we’re going to cook it for an additional 5 to 6 minutes while occasionally stirring or until caramelized and golden brown in the meantime we’re going to prep up some tomatoes so let’s talk about those for a second you can use any canned tomato or

Even fresh tomatoes but for a sauce like this I really prefer San marzanos these are less acidic and a little sweeter than your normal canned tomatoes and to ensure you’re getting certified 100% San marantos it should say dop on the front which means protected designation of

Origin so you can ensure these come from the Sam orano region well I have two 28 o cans because I like a little Saucier pasta alinor so I’m going to take these right over to the blender and add them in there now of course in good Italian

Fashion I’m going to go over to my sink add a few tablespoons of cold water swish that around in those cans and get all that goodness out of there right into the blender and then what I’m going to do is just turn the blender on to medium speed and make sure those

Tomatoes are blend it up and completely smooth just like this and at this stage let’s take our Tomatoes over to the Cook toop and have a look at our onions and garlic and yes it looks like little bites of caramel that is what you want that is Flavor right there the color

Should be no less than what you see here and for a little chef tip taste it so you can understand exactly where they should be now let’s pour in our Blended up tomatoes and of course don’t forget to swish around that blender with a few tablespoons of water and add it in there

As well along with two large basil leaves we’re going to stir those in there and then we’re going to give it a gentle season of course salt and fresh cracked black pepper so as the sauce concentrates it will also season up as well the goal here is to cook it over

Low to medium heat and reduce the amount of sauce by about 1/3 intensifying those tomato flavors making it so delicious but this is great timing because we can prep up a few more things beginning with cheese now the traditional cheese to use in a pasta Alan Norma is something known

As Rota Salata this is a sheep’s milk cheese that is actually made very similar to Rota however in the end it is pressed salted and aged now the salt flavor is not too intense and this is a fantastic cheese for crumbling or grating and it really has the texture of

A dyri or feta cheese I think if you try it you’re really going to love it now while this is a popular cheese to use in Sicily it can be tough to find so another cheese you could use is peino Romano which is that main cheese used in

Southern and Central Italy or even a parmesano regano which is the most popular cheese used in Northern Italy and seems to be so around the world now what I want to do with this Rota Salada is grate it until I have about one cup and you know how I always like to do

This over parchment paper so that it’s easy to transport and it helps keep dishwashing down once it’s graded I’m just going to go back over to our pomodoro sauce and have a look you can see the colors are starting to intensify and the liquid is starting to go down

The pan this is exactly what we want now this dish is said to be named in honor of Lorma which is a famous opera written by Vincenzo balini in the early 1830s the legend has it that balini would go to a local restaurant in the port city of katania Sicily and he would

Order the same thing over and over again well after some time the restaurant owner decided that this dish was as much of a masterpiece as the Opera so he named it pasta al Norma so The Story Goes what we want to do now is get on a

Large pot of water get it boiling so that everything can be finished relatively close to one another so we can serve it up hot so I’m only going to use one mediumsized eggplant it weighs about 12 oz or so and we’re going to slice off the end then what I’m going to

Do is thinly slice it about 3/4 of an inch all the way up to 1 in all the way down the eggplant and of course if you just love eggplant you can double this Mount up no problem we’re going to stack it up and then slice it again into about

3/4 of an inch to 1 in thick and then we’re going to cut them into cubes just like this be sure to leave the peel on as there’s so much flavor in there and it will help protect it as we cook so that it doesn’t break down too quickly

All right comies the main reason I don’t care for eggplant outside of dishes like Baba Gan is because it’s really hard to cook it goes from alente to mush in a matter of seconds now what what I’m going to do is make it just like I made

My caponata recipe a super high smoke point oil and Flash fried add your cubed up eggplant right to a bowl then we’re heading back over to the cooktop to check out our pomodoro sauce oh it does look good now here’s a little chef tip for you you see all this goodness stuck

On the sides of the pan that’s known as fond that is Flavor grab yourself a rubber spatula and scrape all that intense tomato flavor right into your pomodoro sauce and you should should absolutely be tasting this sauce every step of the way so that you know what it

Should taste like during the entire process at this stage I’m going to call it done we are going to season it up with coarse salt and fresh cracked black pepper give it a stir and then set it to the side now let’s drop some pasta and you

Definitely have some options here but I recommend a tubular pasta like this Penny rate it’s a smaller tubular pasta but widely accessible another great option is rigatoni which has a larger tube and they got these great ridges on the outside just like in the penny

Regate so that sauce is going to be in the tube and be in between these ridges so every bite is perfectly Sauced so grab whatever pasta you want to cook with let’s go check out our water make sure it is boiling then we’re going to generously season it with coarse salt

And I was always taught that it should taste as salty as the ocean does next I’m just going to add in my pasta I went with the rigatoni then I’m going to give it a quick stir just to make sure the pasta is moving and now now for some

Chef time management we are going to quickly cook up our eggplant I’m going to be using a very large stainless steel Skillet here we want to ensure we can cover as much surface area as possible in a single layer of eggplant so that it Sears and does not steam I’m immediately

Adding in 3 to 4 tablespoons of avocado oil which has a smoke point of 520° F and once it is smoking it’s now time to start searing so add our eggplant in move it around using a spoon to make sure it is in that that single layer

Give it a gentle season of coarse salt help draw out any moisture so that it Browns up quicker and then what we’re going to do is saute this for a total of 90 seconds that is it you should start to see some dark brown colors on one to

Two sides of the eggplant once you do and it’s as brown as this right here we are good to go now let’s transfer it to a plate with paper towels help drain off any excess oil and I’m also just going to spread it out in a single layer to

Make sure this stops cooking as quickly as possible and I know that I’m good here with this eggplant because when I press it it’s still firm it holds shape I’ve got some nice brown myard spots on there this is perfect let’s head back over to our Boiling Pot of water our

Rigatoni should almost be finished up and it should be alente which means firm but not crunchy or starchy in any way if you don’t know what this tastes like just pull one out and eat it yourself so that you know these only have maybe 20 to 30 seconds so in the meantime I’m

Going to add my sauce pot back on the burner and get it warmed up over low heat now I’m just going to drain my pasta and we’re adding it right to that sauce pot with pomodoro sauce and we’re going to add in a few more goodies

Starting with about a half to 3/4 cup of that Rota Salada I’m going to add in six torn fresh basil leaves and of course if you love basil add more no problem then let’s give it a final season with cor salt and fresh cracked black pepper and

Then fold it together using a spoon or rubber spatula oh man does this look good simple fundamental techniques I can never hit this home hard enough for you and how important it is to the basics of cookery to making sure things are delicious when you practice them over

And over again you will Master it you’re going to be the house that everyone wants to go to for every holiday every event everything that’s my promise to you yes I already tried the pasta it’s delicious yes I even ate some eggplant and guess what it’s still firm and it is

Dang tasty t y all right let me show you how I plate this up going to add several spoonfuls of our pasta Alan Nora to a large wide shallow bowl then I’m going to top off with a good amount of our perfectly seared and cooked up eggplant

I’m next going to garnish up with some more Rota Salada and next this is optional but for a little more fat and flavor I’m going to drizzle on some extra virgin olive oil and last but not least I’m going to finish with some more fresh basil leaves and this one right

Here would have made my Sicilian grandparents proud and look if you can be really buttoned up with making the pasta making the sauce and cooking the eggplant this can come together in under 30 minutes that’s how simple pasta Alan Norma is and if you love eggplant you

Are going to totally dig this heck even I enjoyed it now the pomodoro sauce in here goes in so many different recipes now you can check all of those out on my website at Billy pesi.com or right here in my steak Pizza Iola this recipe video is awesome another easy great Italian

One I’ll see you on there