Pasta Alla Norma (Sicilian Pasta With Eggplant, Tomatoes, and Ricotta Salata)
- ⏱ 55 minutes
- Medium
- Serves 4
- 👥 2-cook recipe
A Sicilian pasta dish with browned eggplant, tomato sauce, basil, and aged ricotta salata.
Adapted from Serious Eats.
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This recipe, inside the app
Two phones, one plan. Tap a step on either phone and watch it tick on the other — that's the live sync, right here in your browser:
Pasta Alla Norma (S...
0/0
COOK 1COOK 2
1Mise en place
2Mince the garlic
Mince the garlic cloves
Crush the whole peeled tomatoes by hand into 1/2-inch...
3Plate and serve
+ 18 more steps in the app
Pasta Alla Norma (S...
0/0
COOK 2COOK 1
1Mise en place
Trim the eggplants, split them in half lengthwise,...
2Mince the garlic
3Plate and serve
+ 18 more steps in the app
Ingredients
- 6 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 3/4 lb small Italian or Japanese eggplants (trimmed, split in half lengthwise, and cut into 3/8-inch half moons)
- kosher salt, to taste
- 3 garlic cloves (minced)
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 can whole peeled tomatoes (crushed by hand into 1/2-inch chunks)
- 1 lb dry ridged, tubular pasta such as rigatoni or penne rigate
- fresh small basil leaves, to taste (or roughly torn large leaves)
- 2 oz aged ricotta salata (finely grated)
The full plan
Split between two cooks — each step says who's on it.
1. Mise en place COOK 1
- Trim the eggplants, split them in half lengthwise, and cut them into 3/8-inch half moons
2. Mince the garlic COOK 2
- Mince the garlic cloves
- Crush the whole peeled tomatoes by hand into 1/2-inch chunks
3. Mise en place COOK 2
- Prep 2 oz aged ricotta salata: finely grate
4. Brown the eggplant COOK 1
- In a 12-inch nonstick or cast iron skillet, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat until shimmering
- Add as much eggplant as fits in a single layer and season with salt
- Cook, shaking the pan occasionally, until the eggplant is well browned on both sides, about 10 minutes total
- Transfer the eggplant to a plate and set aside
- Repeat with the remaining eggplant, adding olive oil as necessary, until all the eggplant is browned
🤝 Cook 2 hands the 12-inch nonstick or cast iron skillet to Cook 1.
5. Cook the tomato sauce COOK 2
- In the skillet, add any remaining olive oil and increase the heat to medium-high
- Heat until the olive oil is shimmering
- Add the garlic, oregano, and pepper flakes, and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant but the garlic is not browned, about 30 seconds
- Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring constantly, until evenly incorporated and the tomato paste starts to fry
- Add the crushed tomatoes and their juice
- Bring to a boil, reduce to a bare simmer, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the liquid is thickened into a sauce-like consistency, about 10 minutes
- Season to taste with salt
🤝 Cook 1 hands over the tomato paste.
6. Cook the pasta COOK 1
- Meanwhile, in a large pot of salted water, cook the pasta according to the package directions
- Drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of cooking liquid
- Return the pasta to the pot
7. Combine pasta and sauce COOK 1
- In the pot, add the sauce to the pasta and toss to coat, adding reserved pasta water as necessary to thin the sauce to the desired consistency
- Add the eggplant slices and toss to combine
🤝 Cook 2 hands over the tomato paste.
8. Plate and serve BOTH
- Serve the pasta immediately, drizzled with extra-virgin olive oil, garnished with grated ricotta salata and torn basil leaves
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