Lumaconi alla Norma

Do you want to sit in our kitchen for a real delicacy? It is a first course, exactly the famous pasta alla Norma.

A dish that has Catania origins, it is said that a Sicilian playwright was so impressed by his goodness that he compared it to the famous work of Bellini, the Norma!

As a pasta format we chose the 1881 lumaconi by Stefano Berruto, whose quality and originality I appreciate, and I filled them with a cube of fried aubergine, but you can use any format as long as it is short pasta.

Since pasta alla Norma is a summer dish, it is also ideal to enjoy it on the beach: put the pasta in the oven in grill mode and sprinkle with mozzarella!

A genuine recipe with simple ingredients becomes a real culinary experience, I guarantee it. Come on, try to cook it and let me know if you liked the result. Good Norm to all!

Ingredients

(for 4 people)

350 gr Berruto lumaconi pasta

800 gr Pachino cherry tomatoes

3 long eggplants

1 bunch of basil

1 clove of garlic

1 tablespoon baked ricotta (grated)

1/2 red onion

1 chilli (optional) to taste extra virgin olive oil to taste salt up to taste pepper as needed. Seed oil for frying

Preparation

Arrange the ingredients on the work surface.
Wash the aubergines, trim the ends and cut into cubes, put the aubergines in a colander with salt, let them rest for an hour so that they drain.
Now prepare the fresh tomato sauce.
Fry the thinly sliced ??onion with a clove of garlic and add the chopped basil.
Wash and cut the cherry tomatoes.
Add the sautéed cherry tomatoes, season with salt and pepper, cook for a few minutes, remove the garlic when cooked.
To prepare the fried aubergines: take a large pan, heat plenty of seed oil and fry the aubergines.
When the eggplant cubes are golden, drain them from the oil and place them on a tray with absorbent paper, so that it absorbs the excess oil and is drier.
Then blend the tomato sauce in the blender and pour it into the pan.
Add the fried eggplant cubes, mix ... and the Norma sauce is ready
Cook the lumaconi al dente in plenty of salted water, drain and mix them with the tomato sauce.
Serve the Lumaconi alla Norma sprinkled with eggplant cubes, grated ricotta and basil leaves. If you like, you can add the chili pepper cut into thin slices. (If you cannot find the baked ricotta you can replace it with mozzarella)