Pasta alla Norma Recipe: a classic Sicilian dish

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This delicious pasta alla norma recipe is a hearty pasta with eggplant and tomato sauce - perfect for meatless Mondays!

Pasta alla norma flatlay with large serving bowl and small serving of dish

Pasta alla Norma is a classic Sicilian dish of pasta with an eggplant, tomato and basil sauce.

This is one of my favourite vegetarian dishes to serve up for the family. It is comforting, full of delicious flavours and immensely satisfying.

Even the most dedicated meat lover will enjoy this recipe.

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Ingredients

This classic pasta with eggplant sauce recipe uses the following ingredients:

Eggplant / Aubergine - look for firm eggplants with a nice shiny skin
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Cayenne pepper
Garlic
Canned chopped tomatoes
Dried oregano
Sugar - sugar is added to tomato sauce to reduce the acidity and produce a more rounded sauce.
Dried chilli flakes - aka red pepper flakes. This helps bring out the flavour of the tomatoes, it shouldn't make the dish too spicy but feel free to skip if you prefer.
Fresh basil - the flavours of the fresh basil are wonderful in this dish, don't skip it!
Pecorino romano - traditionally pasta alla norma uses aged ricotta salata, however it is not always so easy to find and so I usually substitute with pecorino romano, which I usually have in my fridge. You could also substitute with grana padano or parmesan if that is all you have.
Pasta - my favourite pasta for pasta alla norma is spaghetti but you can also use penne, rigatoni, bucatini - whatever you like!

Fried vs Roasted Eggplant

A lot of pasta alla norma recipes use fried eggplant. However I prefer to use roasted eggplant for a few reasons.

Firstly, roasting the eggplant really intensifies the flavour. It doesn't quite have the delicious smokiness of grilled eggplant but I still prefer it to fried.

Also roasting eggplant is easier, healthier AND less messy than frying it. Win, win, win.

How to make Pasta alla Norma

Step One: Roast the eggplant

To make this delicious aubergine pasta dish, you start by roasting the eggplant:

Slices of eggplant on baking tray tossed with olive oil and ready to be roasted

Cut it into ½ inch thick slices - depending on the size of the eggplant, you may want to cut into semi-circles or even quarter-circles.

Put the eggplant slices into a large bowl and toss them with the olive oil, cayenne pepper and some salt and pepper.

Now lay them out onto a couple of roasting tins or baking trays and roast them in the oven for around 30 minutes, until they are a beautiful dark golden brown colour. Your kitchen will smell amazing 🙂

Step Two: Make the tomato sauce

Next heat some oil in a pan and fry the garlic til soft. Add in the tomatoes, chilli flakes, sugar and oregano and cook for around 20 minutes, until the sauce is thickened. Then stir in the eggplant.

Pasta alla norma sauce cooking and pan of spaghetti cooking behind

Step Three: Cook the pasta

Meanwhile, you can cook the pasta. Once it is cooked, reserve a cup of the cooking water, in case you want to loosen up the sauce.

Step Four: Serve

Now stir the pasta through the sauce, adding a little of the pasta cooking water if it is a little thick.

Finally stir in the grated pecorino and chopped basil and serve.

Spaghetti alla norma in a white dish on a table

FAQs and Top Tips

Can you freeze pasta alla norma?

To freeze this dish, it is better to freeze the sauce before you add the pasta, cheese and basil to it. If you know you want to freeze some of the sauce, just portion it off before you add these items and you can add them after it is reheated and ready to serve.

Can you make pasta alla norma ahead of time?

You can roast the eggplant ahead of time and keep in the fridge, and/or you can also make the sauce ahead of time. It reheats really well, and then you just need to cook the pasta and add the cheese and basil when you are ready to serve it.

Do you need to add sugar to tomato sauce?

Adding sugar to tomato sauce helps to reduce any acidity in the tomatoes and produce a more rounded flavour to the sauce. If you have nice sweet tomatoes then you may not need the sugar.

Does eggplant need salting?

A lot of older eggplant recipes suggest that you salt the eggplant before cooking it. This is to reduce the bitterness. However nowadays eggplants do not tend to be bitter and therefore you no longer need to do this step.

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Yield: Serves 4

Pasta alla Norma

This delicious pasta alla norma recipe is a hearty pasta with eggplant and tomato sauce - perfect for meatless Mondays!

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes

Ingredients

2 large eggplants (approx 750g or 1.5 lbs)
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
pinch cayenne pepper
3 cloves garlic
2 x 400g (14oz) cans chopped tomatoes
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp dried oregano
½ tsp dried chilli flakes (red pepper flakes)
40g pecorino romano, grated
15g (or a small handful) of fresh basil, roughly chopped
500g pasta (I prefer spaghetti but you can choose any pasta - penne and rigatoni work well too)

Instructions

To roast the eggplants

Pre-heat the oven to 200 C / 400 F.
Cut the eggplant into half lengthways, then slice into ½ inch thick slices.
Place the eggplant slices into a large bowl and toss with 4 tablespoons of the olive oil, the cayenne pepper and a generous seasoning of salt & pepper.
Lay the eggplant slices out onto two roasting tins or baking trays and roast in the oven for around 30 minutes, until they are a dark golden brown in colour.
Set aside until needed.

To make the sauce

Heat the remaining two tablespoons of olive oil in a pan. Add the garlic and cook over a medium heat until soft - around 2 minutes.
Add the tomatoes, sugar, oregano and chilli flakes. Cook over a medium heat for around 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has thickened.
Meanwhile, put a pan of water on to boil for the pasta and cook as per the packet instructions.
When the sauce is thickened, add the eggplant and stir to mix well.
When the pasta is cooked, reserve a cup of the cooking water before draining.
Add the drained pasta to the tomato and eggplant sauce and stir to combine. If it is too thick, add a little of the pasta water.
Stir in the grated pecorino and chopped basil and serve.

Notes

Ensure the eggplants you choose are firm with a shiny skin

Traditionally pasta alla norma would be made with aged ricotta salata instead of pecorino romano. You can also substitute with grana padano or parmesan if that is all you have.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 552Total Fat: 25gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 19gCholesterol: 11mgSodium: 153mgCarbohydrates: 72gFiber: 12gSugar: 14gProtein: 14g

Pasta alla Norma

Ingredients

Fried vs Roasted Eggplant