Making Pasta alla Norma

One of my favourite pasta dishes in Sicily is Pasta alla Norma, it completely embodies the flavours and fresh produce of the island.

This dish originates from the city of Catania and there are numerous versions of this homage to music and food based on variations on a theme of pasta, aubergines (eggplant), tomatoes and ricotta salata.

The composer Vincenzo Bellini was born in 1801 in Catania and according to legend on the opening night in 1890 of the cities beautiful opera house, which opened with a performance of his opera "Norma", the public were so overwhelmed that they insisted on marking the occasion by naming a dish after the event.

Another story attributes the name to a compliment which was paid to a chef from Catania given by a famous Sicilian actor in the 1920's who declared that his pasta dish had been "as good as Norma"

Another explanation, with not very much imagination, is that 'norma' in Sicilian dialect means "rule" or "standard", in other words, pasta made with ingredients that are the staples of the Catanian diet.

Served without ricotta salata is a no no and without this cheese garnish the dish sometimes goes by the less musical name of Pasta with Cockroaches!!!!!

For me Pasta alla Norma is pure comfort food with its rich sensual sauce and it is always the first dish I order when I return to Sicily because it feels like a big hug and a warm welcome home.

It is also a fabulous dish for vegetarians.

Last October we welcomed to our Sicilian home for the first time our long time friend Harvey.

My husband and Harvey have been best friends since they were sixteen and he was best man at our wedding. He is much loved by Daisy our dog and to her he is simply known as Uncle H.

It was Harvey's first visit to Sicily and we had a great time showing him our town and introducing him to all our friends. We kept him busy visiting Siracusa, Ortigia and Marzamemi, we followed in the footsteps of The Godfather Movies in Forza d'Agro and Savoca, we spent an amazing day olive picking in the countryside followed by watching the same olives being made into delicious olive oil and I spent a whole day showing him Taormina my way with behind the scenes local inside knowledge. But secretly I think his favourite thing of all was playing ball every morning on the beach with Daisy.

My most memorable part of Harvey's stay was our visit to the Ancient Greek Theatre of Taormina. As he sat down on one of the wooden seats on the tiered area he gave out a massive yelp!!!! On sitting down he had sat on a two inch wooden splinter which had penetrated through his shorts into his bottom. He then had to spend the rest of the day walking around with a big hole in shorts.

When we have guests come to stay with us and as most flights from the UK arrive in the morning I always love to welcome them with lunch on our roof terrace under the shadow of Mount Etna whilst overlooking the Ionian Sea. Harvey is a vegetarian so Pasta alla Norma was the perfect choice.

The most important ingredient in Pasta alla Norma is Aubergines.

There are two varieties used in Sicilian cooking, the ones shaped like clubs which are shiny and deep purple known as 'nostrano' and the small round mauve and white streaked Tunisian aubergines which are preferred for their sweeter and fresher flavour. Sicilians also distinguish between male and female aubergines however this is an activity I am yet to master. Then of course there is the ongoing debate over whether to salt or not salt, Sicilians do like to debate about food.

The next important ingredient is the tomatoes. You can either use a tomato sauce or chopped tomatoes with tomato paste. Pachino in the south eastern corner of Sicily is renowned for its tomato production and they are much sought after in wholesale Italian markets. Sicilian tomatoes are sweet, succulent and juicy. Each summer whole families come together to make a years supply of tomato sauce. They are the perfect addition to this dish.

No Pasta alla Norma is complete without being garnished with ricotta salata which is ricotta cheese that has been drained in woven baskets, salted and dried in the Sicilian sun for several weeks.

I have my own style of making Pasta alla Norma BUT that is only because I just love using our BBQ in Sicily. I always use the small round Tunisian aubergines and I slice them into rounds then grill them and serve the pasta in tomato sauce on top but here is the traditional recipe, personally I like to add a teaspoon of Sicilian dried oregano to mine instead of basil. I only need a teaspoon as the taste of Sicilian oregano is so potent. I also use the Sicilian casarecce pasta which is a twisted shape but you can use penne or spaghetti

When in the UK I like to bake the aubergine in the oven and when I run out of the delicious ricotta salata that I always bring home from Sicily I use feta cheese as a substitute.

As for Harvey well he fell head over heels in love with Sicily and came down with a severe dose of 'The Sickness of Missing Sicily' once he was back in the UK.

And if you are wondering in my photos why there is mini Würstel sausages on my BBQ well that would have been for Daisy's lunch.

Pasta alla Norma

One Aubergine

One Garlic Cloves, peeled and crushed

One Bottle of Tomato Sauce

or 1lb Tomatoes Crushed and One Tablespoon of Tomato Puree

300g of Pasta, Spaghetti or Penne

Hard Ricotta Cheese, grated

Salt and Pepper

Cut the aubergine into cubes or into sticks, sprinkle them with salt and leave wrapped in a tea towel for ten minutes to remove any bitterness then fry until golden brown on a low heat. Put to one side.

Fry the garlic in Sicilian olive oil until soft then add the tomato sauce or the crushed tomatoes with tomato puree and then flavour with salt and pepper.

Once the sauce reduces add basil and the fried aubergine. Cook the pasta until 'al dente' (firm to the bite) and drain. Spoon the sauce on top of the pasta and garnish with the ricotta.

Serve and let the ingredients glisten like jewels under the Sicilian sun.

Buon appetito

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