Pasta alla Norma (Sicilian eggplant and tomato pasta) is the perfect way to use your garden tomatoes and eggplant.
For more ideas of what to make, check out all of our recipes.
I don’t know who Norma is, but I like her pasta. Oh my gosh. I wanted to write this Pasta alla Norma recipe so bad, just so I could make that joke.
Side note: Since originally writing this recipe, Jeanne commented about who Norma was, and then I did a little research to find out all about Norma and her pasta. You can learn all about that at the end of this post.
Pasta alla Norma is one of those recipes that I’ve made in order to use up our eggplant. Which is still growing abundantly. In all my years of having a garden, I’ve never had eggplant plants do as well as they have this year.
I’ve been making eggplant parmesan, sauteed eggplant, eggplant pizzas … you get the idea.
But I think Pasta alla Norma might be this season’s favorite.
If you’re making this while your garden is producing a lot of fruits and vegetables, you can make Pasta alla Norma with garden tomatoes too. Then dinner is really special because you picked everything for the sauce out of your garden. The herbs are actually out of our garden as well.
If it’s out of season or you just don’t have a garden, you can just pick up all the ingredients for Pasta alla Norma at your local grocery store.
We grow globe eggplants, so that’s why they’re included in the recipe. If you can’t find those at your local grocery store, a traditional eggplant works fine.
Pasta Alla Norma is a great way to get eggplant onto your menu, but it’s not the only way. For more options, check out our list of Budget-Friendly Eggplant Recipes.
Pasta alla Norma Recipe (Sicilian eggplant and tomato pasta)
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Pasta Alla Norma Ingredients:
- 3 globe eggplants (or 1 long eggplant)
- 4 Roma tomatoes
- 5 cloves of garlic
- 1/4 cup fresh dried oregano
- Red pepper flakes
- 1 pound spaghetti
- Olive oil
- Salt
- Pepper
- Parmesan cheese
How To Make Pasta Alla Norma:
Pre-heat your oven to 400 F.
Wash and peel your eggplant.
Chop the eggplant into small cubes and put the cubes into salted water for 30 minutes (up to one hour). This will pull the bitterness out of the eggplant.
Rinse your eggplant, squeeze out any excess water, and put the cubed eggplant in a single layer on a foil-lined cookie sheet.
Drizzle olive oil on top, then top with salt and pepper. Bake it for 25 minutes, flipping the cubed eggplant about halfway through.
Boil and drain a pound of pasta, reserving a cup of the pasta water.
While all that’s cooking, grab a pan and put it on your stove top to start building your sauce.
Chop your garlic.
Sauté the garlic and red pepper flakes in olive oil until the garlic starts to brown, about three minutes.
Dice the tomatoes and add them and the oregano to the pan. Cook until the tomatoes are cooked down and soft, at least ten minutes.
Add the cooked eggplant to the pan.
Cook everything together, about ten minutes, until everything really melds together.
If the sauce gets too thick, you can add in the reserved pasta water, about 1/4 cup at a time, to thin it out.
Plate each serving individually.
Put some pasta in a bowl, drizzle with olive oil, then top with the Pasta alla Norma sauce you just built.
Finish with Parmesan cheese.
Small note: I almost always serve Pasta alla Norma with spaghetti. I really like it that way, especially with angel hair spaghetti.
But, you’ll find a lot of traditional recipes serve Pasta all Norma over penne noodles. That’s fine too.
So if you don’t have spaghetti, but only have penne (or rigatoni), go with that. And heck, if you only have elbow pasta, that works.
Since these are plated individually, when I pack up any leftovers, I put the spaghetti in one container and then the leftover Pasta alla Norma sauce in a separate container.
There is a very good chance that the next day, Pete will pull out the container of Pasta alla Norma sauce and use it as a dip for crackers. It’s so good that way.
So, if you’re looking for a quick appetizer for company, just make the Pasta alla Norma sauce, put it into a chip and dip bowl, and serve it with crackers.
Pasta Alla Norma: Frequently Asked Questions
So, if you’re having company for dinner, and you tell them you’re making this, and they ask, “What is pasta alla Norma?” you can simply say, “Pasta alla Normal is a Sicilian eggplant and tomato pasta.”
So, actually, Norma isn’t a who as much as a what.
Vincenzo Bellini (whose full name is Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini … say that five times fast) was a composer from Catania, Italy. Back in the 1800’s, when Bellini was alive, Catania was part of Sicily.
Bellini composed the opera “Norma” in 1831 … and apparently, it didn’t fare well during its performance in Italy. A few years later, in Paris, is did well and Bellini had a triumph on his hands.
Which is great because about nine months after that success, Bellini died.
He was buried temporarily in France, then later moved to Catania. He was honored on a lira banknote (until Italy went to the Euro) with a scene from Norma behind him.
And he’s honored in homes across Sicily with Pasta alla Norma served on dinner tables.
Now that you have the whole Pasta alla Norma history and a great understanding of where the name came from, let’s complicate it.
Because yes, the pasta dish is named from the play … but it has nothing to do with opera. The opera isn’t about growing and cooking eggplants. It’s about a love triangle.
But, like we noted above, “Norma” became a great success. So the word started becoming associated with great things.
Enter Italian writer and producer Nino Martoglio, who actually passed away in Bellini’s birthplace Catania.
Martoglio was served this dish for lunch one day and loved it. He didn’t exclaim, “This is the best thing since sliced bread.” Because, well, this story happened in 1920 and sliced bread wasn’t invented until 1928. He did, however, exclaim, “This is a real ‘Norma’!”
And so, it was named.
Norma was a synonym for great things, as evidenced by the Martoglio quote. But now, it’s associated with eggplant and tomato recipes.
In addition to Pasta alla Norma, there’s Pizza alla Norma. Pizza alla Norma is a traditional margarita pizza (sauce and fresh mozzarella cheese) topped with sliced eggplant and a little grated cheese.
Pasta Alla Norma (Sicilian eggplant and tomato pasta)
Pasta alla Norma (Sicilian eggplant and tomato pasta) is the perfect way to use your garden tomatoes and eggplant.
Ingredients
- 3 globe eggplants (or 1 long eggplant)
- 4 Roma tomatoes
- 5 cloves of garlic
- 1/4 cup fresh dried oregano
- Red pepper flakes
- 1 pound pasta
- Olive oil
- Salt
- Pepper
- Grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Pre-heat your oven to 400.
- Wash and peel your eggplant. Chop the eggplant into small cubes and put the cubes into salted water for 30 minutes.
- Rinse your eggplant, squeeze out any excess water, and put the cubed eggplant in a single layer on a foil-lined cookie sheet. Drizzle olive oil on top, then top with salt and pepper. Bake it for 25 minutes, flipping the cubed eggplant about halfway through.
- Boil and drain a pound of pasta, reserving a cup of the pasta water.
- Chop your garlic. Sauté the garlic and red pepper flakes in olive oil until the garlic starts to brown, about three minutes.
- Dice the tomatoes and add them and the oregano to the pan. Cook until the tomatoes are cooked down and soft, at least ten minutes.
- Add the cooked eggplant to the pan. Cook everything together, about ten minutes, until everything really melds together. Optional: If the sauce gets too thick, you can add in the reserved pasta water, about 1/4 cup at a time, to thin it out.
- Plate each serving individually. Finish with Parmesan cheese.
Nutrition Information
Yield
5Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 317Total Fat 5gSaturated Fat 1gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 3gCholesterol 1mgSodium 148mgCarbohydrates 64gFiber 13gSugar 13gProtein 9g
Did you make this Pasta Alla Norma recipe? Let us know how it went in the comments.
Alan H
Friday 18th of March 2022
Is half a cup of oregano right? That is a tremendous amount.
drugstore diva lisa
Sunday 20th of March 2022
Hey. The recipe doesn't say a half a cup of oregano. It says "1/4 cup fresh dried oregano." One tablespoon of fresh herbs is equal to a teaspoon of dried. So, 1/4 cup of fresh is equal to 4 tablespoons of fresh, which would be 4 teaspoons of dried (which is 1 1/3 tablespoons).
Cindy Ingalls
Sunday 20th of October 2019
I'm going to have to look for these globe eggplants next time I'm at the farmer's market. I've never tried them and I'm a huge eggplant fan, especially when it's paired with pasta.
Echo
Sunday 20th of October 2019
I love trying different pastas, but I have never tried eggplant! I really should try it soon.
drugstore diva lisa
Monday 21st of October 2019
If it's your first time, definitely don't skip the step where you let the eggplant sit in the salted water. If you do, the eggplant will be so bitter and you won't enjoy it at all.
Amila
Sunday 20th of October 2019
I love pasta.But I haven't come up with any pasta recipe with eggplant.So,this sounds interesting for me.Will give it a try.
Jen Walker
Friday 18th of October 2019
I'm going to have to try out this recipe! I love eggplant and keep trying to find ways to get my guys to eat and enjoy it.