Pasta Norma

Holidays approaching, and the preparation of the main meals of the festivities becomes the leit-motiv, in Italy are usually meat or fish based, even if looking into the regional recipes there are delicious vegetarian recipes for holidays menus that put together the entire BelPaese with all its peculiarities. In the South we find obviously many dishes vegetables based that remind us of the warmth of the summer and of Mediterranean generosity, such as aubergines (eggplants) with a dish named after an opera composed by the Catanese Vincenzo Bellini. Apparently the playwriter and 'uomo di teatro' from the very same Sicilian city, Nino Martoglio, commented 'this is a Norma!' when he tasted the pasta.

Pasta

Aubergines (Eggplants)

Extravirgin PDO olive oil
Light 'sugo', tomato sauce, or tomatoes
Onion
Basil
Chilli
Sicilian Ricotta salata al forno cheese

Wash and slice the aubergines, salt them and let them stay covered with something heavy to squeeze away the bitterness, fry. On a side, prepare a silmple tomato sauce (sugo), lightly browning the onion and the chilli and adding chopped tomatoes, salt and basil. Mince the toomatoes in the grinder add the fried aubergines, when almost ready the basil. Boil the pasta in abundant salted water, strain and saute in the sugo, add abundant Sicilian ricotta salata al forno cheese, garnish with basil blossoms and serve.

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