Pasta alla Norma '’ (of my house)

Not surprisingly I put the article in the title of this recipe: Pasta alla Norma. ' The’ because this is a important, for we Sicilians but for Italians all. But it's important to me too, because this is not the classic Standard sauce and eggplant, but a retelling of my family: the sauce is not made from a simple tomato sauce and eggplant, How do I use in Catania, but from a ' sauce’ that harmonizes perfectly with fry pan: Onion thinly sliced, The Eggplant fries and gravy. All bake for 10 minutes together, to mix the flavors that then are combined with the baked ricotta siciliana (but also the pecorino cheese has its reason for being). Is’ a dish with flavors more complex than those of traditional Carpenter, but for you and will always remain the pasta alla Norma of my heart. If you want, You can watch here on my You Tube Channel (to which you can subscribe) the video recipe step by step. Have a good day.

Ingredients for 4 people: 

• a large Eggplant
• 500 grams of chopped tomatoes cut in large chunks
• 400 grams of pasta long or short, I used spaghetti alla chitarra
• extra virgin olive oil, to taste
• 2 red onions
• a few leaves of Basil
• a pinch of sugar
•  baked ricotta siciliana (or pecorino siciliano PDO) to taste
• peanut oil for frying, to taste
• Salt, to taste

Wash the eggplants, remove the beginning and the end and cut them into chunks of approximately 2 centimeters and a half. Add salt and put them in a colander, blankets and with a weight on top, to make miss the vegetable water.

Meanwhile, prepare the sauce: put the oil in a pan, thinly slice the onions and cook them slowly in the oil over low heat. Add the tomato chunks, Salt, the Basil and sugar and cook everything on low heat for 15-20 minutes.

Fry the eggplant in oil until they are golden brown and crispy. Once cooked, place them on a paper towel to remove excess oil and then merge them with sauce: Cook for 5 minutes and set aside. I recommend you make the sauce with a couple of hours in advance so that the flavors blend well.

Boil the pasta in salted water, drain it al dente keeping aside a little of the cooking water. Season the pasta with the sauce, mantecandola over a very low heat with a little’ of the cooking water. Serve the pasta alla Norma with copious amounts of baked ricotta, grated (or pecorino cheese) into strips, garnish the plate with a Basil leaf. Bon appétit!

THE PAIRING: Two possibilities with pasta alla Norma: a white wine, Why is there a fat component, given by the fried eggplant, which invokes an acid component of the wine. So let's choose a cricket in purity. Or, for those who prefer red wines, We show a cerasuolo di vittoria Docg, but no old vintage (www.cerasuolovittoria.eu): cerasuolo keeps floral and fruity, suitable for a tasty red sauce, It has a smooth taste and tannic.