Pasta Alla Norma
A proper Sicilian classic — roasted eggplant folded through a simple tomato sauce with garlic and basil, tossed with pasta and finished with salty ricotta salata. It’s simple ingredients doing a lot of work.
Roasting the eggplant instead of frying it keeps things lighter without losing any of that soft, almost creamy texture it’s known for. Just make sure it goes properly golden in the oven — undercooked eggplant tastes bland and slightly bitter, so give it the full time.
Everything happens at once — the eggplant roasts while the pasta boils and the sauce simmers — so it comes together faster than the ingredient list might suggest.
Pasta Alla Norma
EGGPLANT · PASTA · EASY
A Sicilian Classic That's Genuinely Easy to Make
This is a proper vegetarian pasta dish that doesn't feel like it's missing anything. The roasted eggplant gives it a meaty, savoury quality that carries the whole sauce.
Nothing about it is fussy. It's a handful of pantry staples plus one vegetable, and most of the cook time is hands-off roasting and simmering rather than standing over the stove.
It also freezes properly, which not every pasta sauce does, so it's worth making a double batch if you're going to the effort anyway.
Pasta Alla Norma
Ingredients
- 450 g Penne
- 2 Eggplants (Aubergine) Diced
- 45 ml Olive Oil
- 3 Garlic Cloves Minced
- 400 g Diced Tomatoes Canned
- 1.5 g Dried Oregano
- 20 g Fresh Basil Picked
- Salt & Pepper To Taste
- Ricotta Salata To Serve
- Fresh Basil Garnish
Method
- Preheat oven to 220°C (430°F).
- Dice the eggplant into medium-sized pieces, and place it into a bowl along with half of the olive oil and seasoning to taste.
- Line a baking tray with parchment paper and place down the seasoned eggplant. Roast in the preheated oven for 25 minutes, mixing it around halfway.
- Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil over high heat. Generously season with sea salt flakes and cook the pasta as per the packet instructions.
- Place a large pan onto the stovetop over medium heat. Add the remaining olive oil and garlic, and sauté for 1 minute or until just starting to brown. Add the diced tomatoes, oregano, basil stems, and season to taste. Mix to combine and bring to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 12 minutes.
- By this stage, the eggplant can be removed from the oven, transferred into the sauce, and mixed well until fully combined.
- Add the al dente pasta along with ½ cup (125ml) of pasta water, and add the basil leaves. Mix well and remove from the heat. Add enough of the pasta water until you reach the desired consistency — you may want more or less.
- Serve in bowls and grate over some ricotta salata cheese, or use plain ricotta or parmesan. Garnish with extra fresh basil and cracked black pepper. Dig in.
