Rigatoni alla Norma
An eggplant and pasta dish traditionally from Sicily that is delicious! With a few simple ingredients this rigatoni alla norma will stun you!
Ingredients
- 1 lb rigatoni (or pasta of your choice)
- 1 large eggplant
- 3 garlic cloves
- fresh basil leaves
- 1 jar tomato sauce If you do not have your own, make the sauce in advance using onions, pasatta, and seasoning to your liking.
- 1 cup ricotta salata, grated Salted ricotta can be found in italian specialty stores
- frying olive oil not extra virgin please it will not withstand the heat.
Instructions
Prepare the Eggplant
- Prepare the eggplant first. You can choose to keep skin on or remove. I prefer it without. So peel first, if you are like me, if not, skip this step.
- Cut the eggplant into cubes. Then on a baking sheet lay some paper towel, and lay the eggplant on top of paper towel.
- Salt the eggplant and let sit for about 20 minutes. The salt will dry out the moisture from the eggplant.
- Then rinse the egpplant and pat it as dry as you can.
- In a large frying pan, add the frying olive oil and add some fresh basil leaves and whole garlic cloves .
- When the oil is hot enough, begin frying the eggplant in batches and then set aside.
Putting it Together
- Prepare your pasta water to a rolling boil and then add your pasta.
- Prepare your regular tomato sauce and let it simmer for about 20 minutes. Once your eggplant is ready add half of the cooked eggplant directly into the sauce.
- Add half of the grated ricotta salata directly to the sauce
- Add in the cooked pasta directly into the sauce.
- Serve on a dish and top with additional eggplant and ricotta salata.