A rich mix to prepare a first course with the typical flavors of Sicily, eggplant of course, as in the famous pasta alla norma and in the classic Sicilian pasta, but also capers and olives.
How to use our preparation for Sicilian pasta
Use a teaspoon of product per serving in a pan with extra virgin olive oil and fry a few minutes. Cook the pasta, once ready, drain and toss in the pan with the sauce obtained. Serve piping hot with a sprinkling of Parmesan.
Typical Sicilian pasta recipes
Probably the association of ideas between pasta and Sicily reminds everyone of pasta alla norma, a recipe that includes eggplant (fried), tomato and ricotta salata, classic Sicilian pasta (a recipe used to season baked pasta) also has aubergines and tomato at the base but replaces ricotta with mozzarella. In this mixture, in addition to tomato, eggplant and basil (all ingredients present in pasta alla norma and also in numerous other Sicilian first courses) you will find other typical products of the island such as olives and capers (the latter, for example, present in the pesto recipe pantesco, a sauce for pasta typical of the island of Pantelleria).
History of pasta with aubergines
Reiterating that the mix we are talking about includes typical ingredients of Sicilian cuisine that have nothing to do with pasta alla Norma, when we say pasta with Sicilian eggplant the thought (and also Google) goes to the famous recipe from Catania. We therefore like to recall the origin of the latter or at least of its name, there are three versions, two of which are related to Vincenzo Bellini's masterpiece, the "Norma". In the dialect of Catania, however, the expression "in accordance with" is also present as a synonym for de facto in accordance with the rules of the art and, according to a theory, the name originates from this.
The most accredited theory instead tells of an exclamation uttered by the writer and playwright Nino Martoglio during a lunch in 1920, to comment on the goodness of the dish, he thus turned to the cook " Mrs. Saridda, this is ʼa true Norma ”in this case according to most Norma would refer to Bellini's masterpiece, but she could simply have used the expression from Catania.
The third theory is the one that connects directly to the "norm" and above all the only one that also identifies the moment of creation of the dish, a Sicilian cook would have invented a dish for hoc on the occasion of the first della norma alla Scala in 1831. A very interesting thing is that there is a typical dish from Agrigento called cavatelli all'agrigentina (or even cavatelli alla Pirandello) which has the exact same ingredients as pasta alla norma (eggplant, salted ricotta and tomato), but if you search online with the latter name you will also find a richer version in which the ingredients also include anchovies, capers and black olives. Proof of the fact that first courses based on aubergines and other typical ingredients are the heritage of the whole island.
