Serious Pasta alla Norma

Keywords:	Pasta ¦ Italian Cuisine ¦ Traditional ¦ Vegetarian ¦ Sicilian Cuisine ¦ Montalbano ¦ Cult
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Simple to make and yet classy enough for a first course in a serious dinner, Pasta alla Norma was so popular in 19th century Sicily that it was named after Sicilian composer Bellini's hugely successful opera Norma to honor both the dish and the opera, whose perfection matched each other in the eyes of Nino Martoglio, a famous Sicilian theater director. It kept the name.

See how moving this opera is by treating yourself to casta diva, the most famous aria of Norma, sung by Maria Callas in 1958. A most appropriate dish to entertain opera lovers - ideally you should show them a rare version of Norma on DVD or CD before dessert and they'll leave content with your impeccable opera credentials.

But Pasta alla Norma is not only for opera buffs. It is a hugely popular dish in Sicily. For instance, in Il ladro di merendine, the 1996 Sicilian novel I told you about in Pasta con i broccoli, inspector Montalbano visits some old mama who witnessed a disappearance. When she invites him for lunch, Montalbano tries to decline until he hears the menu:

"'Why don't you stay and eat with me?"
Montalbano felt his stomach blanch. Signora Clementina was sweet and nice, but she probably lived on semolina and boiled potatoes.
"Actually, I have so much to do ..."
"Pina, the housekeeper, is an excellent cook, believe me. She's made Pasta alla Norma, you know, the one with fried eggplant and ricotta salata."
"Jesus!" said Montalbano, sitting back down.
"And braised beef for the second course"
"Jesus!" repeated Montalbano.

The concept is simple: pasta with fried eggplants in a tomato salsa sprinkled with fresh basil and ricotta. And there lies the rub. For the ricotta called for real 'alla Norma' is ricotta salata, a Southern cousin of the regular sweet ricotta found outside Italy. God know how many times I've made Pasta alla Norma with regular ricotta with excellent results, but yesterday was the first time I could do it with real ricotta salata, bought in Naples, Italy. Ricotta salata is salted and slightly sour and gives the dish a unique rustic flavor. For a Sicilian gourmet, this sets apart serious Pasta alla Norma from the mundane version cooked all over Italy.

Pasta alla Norma
For 4 as a first course
2 large eggplants
4-6 garlic cloves
1 large bunch fresh basil
200 gr ricotta salata*
500 gr pasta**
400 gr puréed tomatoes***
35 gr guanciale or a small onion
olive oil
salt, pepper

* If you can't find ricotta salata by all means use good quality regular ricotta. It won't be the same dish but still well worth making.

** For the pasta you can use any good quality, durum wheat bronze-extruded tubular pasta, for instance maccheroni or paccheri.

*** The tomato sauce can be made with fresh or canned tomatoes. like many Italians I use passata, but fresh would be even better.

Place a large frying pan on a hot fire and add 4 tbsp olive oil. Crush half the garlic into the oil and let it brown slowly. When the garlic is dry and medium-brown, remove it and discard it (photo). The point is to flavor the oil. Don't let the garlic become black, that would be very bitter.

Peel and slice the eggplants crosswise. Cut half in small dices and the rest in nice 1 cm / 0.5'' thick slices. Place the eggplants in the frying pan (photo) and fry over medium-high heat for as long as it takes for them to be soft and browned on both sides.

Meanwhile, in a separate saucepan, fry the rest of the crushed garlic with 30 gr diced guanciale or pancetta or a finely chopped small onion.

When the garlic is dry and brown, remove it and add the tomatoes (photo). Season with salt and pepper or a pinch of red chili flakes and a little thyme or oregano or some snipped basil. The seasoning depends on your taste, tomato sauces are very personal things!

Cook and drain the pasta, crumble the ricotta and snip the basil using scissors (a knife and board would ruin their taste for reasons still left unexplained). Heat your serving plates and summon the guests.

Carefully place a portion of pasta on each plate. Garnish with a few spoonfuls tomato sauce. Sprinkle a generous amount of ricotta over the tomato sauce and cover with the diced eggplants. Sprinkle a tablespoon snipped basil over the top, then add the eggplant slices for effect and finish with a particularly nice whole basil leaf.

Although I go to great lengths to build an attractive pile on each plate, the dish really takes off when the guests combine the ingredients with their fork.

This is a dish that makes you cry and sing and bang your head against the floor all at the same time - it is that good. A real Sicilian cult classic!

update: Here is another time I did Pasta alla Norma for some friends. Too much pasta, not enough time. I served it on a large platter.