What is Pasta alla Norma?

Fried eggplant, tomato, basil, and salted ricotta over pasta — Catania's tribute to its favorite opera.

Where does Pasta alla Norma come from?

Pasta alla Norma is a Sicilian dish from Sicily, Italy.

Can Pasta alla Norma be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?

Yes. This Pasta alla Norma recipe includes ingredient substitutions to make it vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, or egg-free — including several of those at once, such as gluten-free and dairy-free together.

How long does Pasta alla Norma take to make?

About 50 minutes total (20 minutes prep, 30 minutes cooking), serving 4.

Recipe

Name: Pasta alla Norma
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Sicilian
Ingredients: 2 medium eggplants, cut into 1-inch cubes; 1/2 cup olive oil, for frying; 1 lb rigatoni or casarecce; 28 oz can crushed tomatoes; 3 cloves garlic, sliced; 1 big handful fresh basil; 3/4 cup ricotta salata, grated

Europe → 🇮🇹 Italy → Sicily

Pasta alla Norma

Sicilian · easy · serves 4

prep 20 min · cook 30 min

~165 cal · 9g protein · 19g carbs · 7g fat (estimated, per serving)

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Rigatoni with fried eggplant, tomato sauce, and grated salted ricotta

🇮🇹 Sicily

Legend says a Catanese playwright tasted this dish and declared it "a real Norma!" — comparing it to Bellini's masterpiece opera. It captures Sicily on a plate: eggplant from Arab traders, tomatoes from the New World, and sheep's ricotta from the island's hills.

Make it yours

Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.

🥕 Vegetarian

🌱 Vegan

🌾 Gluten-Free

🥛 Dairy-Free

🥜 Nut-Free

🥚 Egg-Free

Ingredients

Serves 4 —

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2 medium eggplants, cut into 1-inch cubes

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1/2 cup olive oil, for frying

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1 lb rigatoni or casarecce

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28 oz can crushed tomatoes

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3 cloves garlic, sliced

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1 big handful fresh basil

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3/4 cup ricotta salata, grated

Instructions

Salt the eggplant cubes and rest 20 minutes; pat dry. This keeps them creamy, not greasy.

Fry the eggplant in olive oil in batches until deeply golden on all sides. Drain on paper.

In the same pan, soften the garlic, add tomatoes, and simmer 15 minutes with a few basil leaves.

Cook the pasta very al dente; finish it in the sauce with a splash of pasta water.

Fold in most of the eggplant. Plate, top with the rest, and snow the ricotta salata (or lemon crumbs) over everything with torn basil.

Catania, Sicily tradition.

Ratings & reviews

No reviews yet — be the first to cook it.

🌏 While it simmers — know your destination

📍

Sicily. A sun-baked island of eggplant, almonds, and the sea.

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Italy. Twenty regions, twenty utterly different cuisines.

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Europe. Village recipes guarded for generations.

The story behind this dish is up top — worth a read while the pot works.

👩‍🍳

Richard Moore & Kelsey Tucker

Recipes cooked, tested, and researched by the creators of Spin the Globe. How we build our recipes →