For a hearty weeknight dinner, make pasta alla Norma, a Sicilian pasta dish with fried eggplant, marinara sauce, ricotta salata cheese, and basil. 

Pasta Alla Norma Recipe: How to Make Sicilian Eggplant Pasta

Pasta alla Norma is a hearty vegetarian pasta dish with fried or roasted eggplant, marinara sauce, fresh basil, and [ricotta salata cheese](https://www.masterclass.com/articles/ricotta-salata-guide). In many classic [eggplant dishes](https://www.masterclass.com/articles/eggplant-recipes), cooks condense the vegetable through purging—a method of salting and pressing to decrease oil absorption. However, the key to meaty, flavorful eggplant in pasta alla Norma is to skip that step and intentionally soak up the extra-virgin olive oil.

Pasta alla Norma gets its name from Vincenzo Bellini’s nineteenth-century opera, *Norma*. The composer and pasta dish both come from Catania, a city on the eastern coast of Sicily, Italy. There are two origin stories for the dish: The first claims that the dish was created for the opera’s world premiere in 1831. The second claims that when Italian writer Nino Martoglio first tried the dish, he exclaimed, “This is a real Norma!” Much like the namesake opera, the pasta was a true masterpiece. 

For a hearty weeknight dinner, make pasta alla Norma, a Sicilian pasta dish with fried eggplant, marinara sauce, ricotta salata cheese, and basil. 

Pasta alla Norma is a hearty vegetarian pasta dish with fried or roasted eggplant, marinara sauce, fresh basil, and <a href='https://www.masterclass.com/articles/ricotta-salata-guide' target='_blank' class='mc-text--link' data-mc-segment-trigger='true' data-mc-segment-event-type='Article Page Click' data-event-obj='{"textTag":"p","href":"https://www.masterclass.com/articles/ricotta-salata-guide","linkCopy":"ricotta salata cheese","category":null}'>ricotta salata cheese</a>. In many classic <a href='https://www.masterclass.com/articles/eggplant-recipes' target='_blank' class='mc-text--link' data-mc-segment-trigger='true' data-mc-segment-event-type='Article Page Click' data-event-obj='{"textTag":"p","href":"https://www.masterclass.com/articles/eggplant-recipes","linkCopy":"eggplant dishes","category":null}'>eggplant dishes</a>, cooks condense the vegetable through purging—a method of salting and pressing to decrease oil absorption. However, the key to meaty, flavorful eggplant in pasta alla Norma is to skip that step and intentionally soak up the extra-virgin olive oil.

What Is Pasta Alla Norma?

Pasta alla Norma gets its name from Vincenzo Bellini’s nineteenth-century opera, Norma. The composer and pasta dish both come from Catania, a city on the eastern coast of Sicily, Italy. There are two origin stories for the dish: The first claims that the dish was created for the opera’s world premiere in 1831. The second claims that when Italian writer Nino Martoglio first tried the dish, he exclaimed, “This is a real Norma!” Much like the namesake opera, the pasta was a true masterpiece.

The History of Pasta Alla Norma 