Pasta alla norma, which is a vegetarian pasta dish with eggplant simmered in freshly made tomato sauce, may sound new to you; but once you taste this, it will knock your socks off and that’s a guarantee!
Being a meat-lover family, vegetarian pasta is not a thing in our family meals. We always incline towards pasta with some kind of animal protein in it!
But after the revelation of spaghetti aglio e olio, we realized that we can’t judge a vegetarian pasta before tasting it! That’s why another classic meatless pasta made its appearance on our dinner table!
And thank God it did! Today’s recipe of vegetarian pasta alla norma is another revelation of a completely different level altogether!
Who could have thought that eggplant, our very own & humble brinjal can make such an incredibly delicious pasta dish!
Trust me, you got to try this one! This pasta alla norma is a hearty and soulful meatless pasta that can delight your mind on any gloomy day!
What is pasta alla norma?
Pasta alla norma is a traditional Sicilian pasta recipe in a base of freshly made tomato sauce and loaded with fried eggplant pieces!
Sounds fancy, right? Yes, it is a fancy pasta recipe and that too meatless! And thanks to its delicious taste, you will not forget this Italian classic for a long time! Take it from me!
If you make this pasta alla norma once at home, I can bet that it will become one of your go-to weekly dinner recipes! Try it and see for yourself!
Ingredients for pasta alla norma
Pasta: You can make this classic pasta alla norma with any pasta of your choice. I would recommend using a short pasta like penne or rigatoni as they mingle with eggplant and tomatoes easily, giving you an unmatched pleasure when you take your very first spoon.
Eggplant: This is the star ingredient of this pasta alla norma which is also known as Sicilian eggplant pasta!
To be very honest with you, I was quite skeptical at first when I got to know about this pasta with eggplant!
But being a culinary enthusiast, I like to try things which are out of my comfort zone; this way I can experiment with new things and see if it suits my palate or not!
Surprisingly enough, this newly discovered pasta alla norma became a winner with flying colors! This pasta turned out incredibly tasty and won our heart & soul almost instantly!
I could not thank myself enough for trying this classic pasta recipe and I literally urge you to do the same!
You will fall in love with this all veggie pasta and not miss the meat for a single moment! I can vouch for that!
Red tomatoes: Bright red ripe tomatoes are a must for this pasta alla norma because you need to make a fresh tomato sauce for this pasta recipe.
I do have a popular video of how you can make tomato sauce from fresh san marzano and you can follow that as well.
But using san marzano is not mandatory though. You can use your locally sourced fresh red tomatoes as well.
Garlic: No pasta recipe is complete without this flavorful aromatic! Take a generous amount of fresh garlic cloves and grate them into the oil to release their maximum flavor.
The aroma of warm olive oil infused with garlic is mind-bogglingly good and will make your crave for this pasta even more!
Extra virgin olive oil: Like any good pasta recipe, your pasta alla norma also demands and deserves a good quality extra virgin olive oil.
Flavor of olive oil creates magic in any pasta dish and this one is no exception too! You can try this brand that I have been using since ages!
Cheese: Things become a little tricky in case of cheese for this classic pasta alla norma. Traditionally and ideally you should be using ricotta salata cheese here which is an Italian cheese that is hard in texture and quite salty in taste.
I could not get my hands on ricotta salata; hence I replaced it with parmesan cheese which was a close substitute for the traditional Italian cheese.
Dried oregano: Infuse your freshly made tomato sauce with herby flavors to give it an extra dimension. I used dried oregano which worked wonders in this tomato sauce!
Seasoning: Use salt and pepper as per your taste in your pasta, but do keep in mind that the cheese is also quite salty. So add any extra salt sparingly only after tasting.
How to make pasta alla norma?
Step 1: Boil water with a generous amount of salt in a large pot. When the water comes to full boil, add pasta and cook them till al-dente.
Pro tip: Ideal cooking time for your choice of pasta will be mentioned on the pasta packet. Please do follow the packet instructions.
Step 2: Once pasta is cooked till al dente, drain the pasta after reserving about a cup of the pasta cooking water. Set the pasta aside until needed.
Step 3: Peel the tomatoes and chop them into small pieces. Remove the seeds as much as possible. Set them aside.
Step 4: Trim out the green stem of the eggplant and then peel it in a striped pattern lengthwise. Now cut the eggplant either in round slices or in 2-inch long strips that are about 1-inch thick.
Step 5: Heat a heavy bottomed sauté pan and add half of the extra virgin olive oil. Once the oil is warm, add the eggplant pieces and fry them on medium heat.
Step 6: Fry the eggplant until they soften and turn golden brown in color on all sides. Lightly season the eggplant pieces with salt before taking them out of the pan. Set them aside.
Step 7: In a heavy-bottomed stockpot, add the remaining olive oil. Once the oil is warm, add the minced garlic.
Step 8: Sauté the garlic for a minute until they become fragrant. Then add the chopped tomatoes.
Step 9: Cook the tomatoes on medium-low flame until they soften and become mushy. This would take about 20 to 25 minutes.
Step 10: Season the tomato sauce with dried oregano, salt & black pepper to taste. Cover and cook for 5 more minutes until all the flavors are mingled together.
Step 11: Now add the fried eggplant to the prepared tomato sauce. Give a good mix so that eggplant pieces are nicely combined with the tomato sauce.
Step 12: It’s time to add the cooked pasta. Stir well to evenly mix the pasta with the tomato sauce & fried eggplant.
Step 13: Add half of the grated parmesan cheese and give a good mix using a spatula. If the sauce has turned too thick, drizzle half of the reserved pasta water to loosen it up.
Step 14: Once combined well, add the remaining grated cheese and give a final mix. Your pasta alla norma is ready to serve!
Step 15: Serve your Sicilian eggplant pasta into individual bowls and garnish with fresh basil leaves! Enjoy!
More delicious meatless pasta recipes from flavor quotient
- Creamy Mushroom Spaghetti in White Sauce
- Easy Cheesy Broccoli Pasta Bake
- Meatless Rigatoni Pasta with Basil Pesto
- Pasta of your choice - 250 gms
- Red tomatoes - 4 to 5, large
- Eggplant/aubergine - 1, large
- Garlic - 10 to 12 cloves, grated or minced
- Extra virgin olive oil - 4-6 tbsp
- Parmesan cheese - 100 gms (about 1 cup), grated
- Dried oregano - 1 tsp
- Salt and black pepper to taste
- Fresh basil to garnish
- Boil water with a generous amount of salt in a large pot. When the water comes to full boil, add pasta and cook them till al-dente.*
- Once pasta is cooked till al dente, drain the pasta after reserving about a cup of the pasta cooking water. Set the pasta aside until needed.
- Peel the tomatoes and chop them into small pieces. Remove the seeds as much as possible. Set them aside.
- Trim out the green stem of the eggplant and then peel it in a striped pattern lengthwise. Now cut the eggplant either in round slices or in 2-inch long strips that are about 1-inch thick.
- Heat a heavy bottomed sauté pan and add half of the extra virgin olive oil. Once the oil is warm, add the eggplant pieces and fry them on medium heat.
- Fry the eggplant until they soften and turn golden brown in color on all sides. Lightly season the eggplant pieces with salt before taking them out of the pan. Set them aside.
- In a heavy-bottomed stockpot, add the remaining olive oil. Once the oil is warm, add the minced garlic.
- Sauté the garlic for a minute until they become fragrant. Then add the chopped tomatoes.
- Cook the tomatoes on medium-low flame until they soften and become mushy. This would take about 20 to 25 minutes.
- Season the tomato sauce with dried oregano, salt & black pepper to taste. Cover and cook for 5 more minutes until all the flavors are mingled together.
- Now add the fried eggplant to the prepared tomato sauce. Give a good mix so that eggplant pieces are nicely combined with the tomato sauce.
- It’s time to add the cooked pasta. Stir well to evenly mix the pasta with the tomato sauce & fried eggplant.
- Add half of the grated parmesan cheese and give a good mix using a spatula. If the sauce has turned too thick, drizzle half of the reserved pasta water to loosen it up.
- Once combined well, add the remaining grated cheese and give a final mix. Your pasta alla norma is ready to serve!
- Serve your Sicilian eggplant pasta into individual bowls and garnish with fresh basil leaves! Enjoy!
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