Penne alla Norma

This is one of our favourite pasta dishes. It is so good...our secret is to use good quality extra-virgin olive oil as it gives it such a great flavour. As you can see from our blog, aubergine is one of my favourite veggies around. Originally, this dish is served with grated ricotta salata [Salty dried ricotta cheese] which is a Sicilian regional speciality but since I cannot find it here, I used Feta cheese. It is nowhere close to the ricotta salata but at least it is a salty cheese. Although I will try and do my own ricotta salata in the near future. Now some history on the origins of this dish. This dish originated in the Sicilian city of Catania. It got its name from Vincenzo Bellini's opera Norma. Some of the actors where eating at a restaurant after a performance and one of them said after eating this aubergine dish...''ohh this is Norma''  So there you have it, pasta alla Norma was invented. Give it a go and will definitely have the Mediterranean on a plate :) You will need...

• 2 cans chopped tomatoes
• 500g Aubergine, thinly sliced
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 400g Penne pasta
• 175g Ricotta Salata or Feta cheese, crumbled
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Salt & Pepper

How to...

1. Put the aubergine slices in a colander and sprinkle with coarse salt. Leave to drain for about 30 minutes. This process is done so as to get rid of the aubergine’s bitter juices.
2. After 30 minutes, rinse the aubergine thoroughly and pat dry with kitchen towel.
3. Fry or grill the aubergines until soft.
4. In a pan put some olive oil and the crushed cloves of garlic.
5. Cook the garlic until golden, about 1 minute.
6. Add the chopped tomatoes and simmer on medium heat for about 30 minutes.
7. In the meantime cook the pasta.
8. When both the pasta and sauce are ready, mix everything in the sauce pan and toss the pasta into the sauce.
9. Serve and garnish with Ricotta Salata shavings or cubed Feta cheese.

Enjoy!!

R&A