Pasta alla Norma (), earlier called ''pasta con le melanzane'' 'pasta with eggplant',

Touring Club Italiano The Touring Club Italiano (TCI) (Italian Touring Club or Touring Club of Italy) is the major Italian national tourist organization. The Touring Club Ciclistico Italiano (TCCI) was founded on 8 November 1894 by a group of bicyclists to promote the ...

, ''Vie d'Italia e del mondo'', 1928?
p. 750
/ref>Gioacchino Balducci, ''Italia moderna'', 1973, , p. 109 is an Italian dish of

pasta Pasta (, ; ) is a type of food typically made from an unleavened dough of wheat flour mixed with water or eggs, and formed into sheets or other shapes, then cooked by boiling or baking. Rice flour, or legumes such as beans or lentils, are som ...

and

eggplant Eggplant ( US, Canada), aubergine ( UK, Ireland) or brinjal (Indian subcontinent, Singapore, Malaysia, South Africa) is a plant species in the nightshade family Solanaceae. ''Solanum melongena'' is grown worldwide for its edible fruit. Mos ...

. It is typical of

Sicilian cuisine Sicilian cuisine is the style of cooking on the island of Sicily. It shows traces of all cultures that have existed on the island of Sicily over the last two millennia. Although its cuisine has much in common with Italian cuisine, Sicilian food a ...

, from

Catania Catania (, , Sicilian and ) is the second largest municipality in Sicily, after Palermo. Despite its reputation as the second city of the island, Catania is the largest Sicilian conurbation, among the largest in Italy, as evidenced also by ...

in particular. It is made of

spaghetti Spaghetti () is a long, thin, solid, cylindrical pasta.spaghetti
Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Unabridg ...

or other pasta with

tomato sauce Tomato sauce (also known as ''salsa roja'' in Spanish or ''salsa di pomodoro'' in Italian) can refer to many different sauces made primarily from tomatoes, usually to be served as part of a dish, rather than as a condiment. Tomato sauces are c ...

, covered with slices of fried

and served with grated ricotta salata cheese and often

basil Basil (, ; ''Ocimum basilicum'' , also called great basil, is a culinary herb of the family Lamiaceae (mints). It is a tender plant, and is used in cuisines worldwide. In Western cuisine, the generic term "basil" refers to the variety also kno ...

. It was named in honor of the native of

Vincenzo Bellini Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini (; 3 November 1801 – 23 September 1835) was a Sicilian opera composer, who was known for his long-flowing melodic lines for which he was named "the Swan of Catania". Many years later, in 1898, Giu ...

, the composer of the opera ''

Norma Norma may refer to: * Norma (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) Astronomy *Norma (constellation) * 555 Norma, a minor asteroid *Cygnus Arm or Norma Arm, a spiral arm in the Milky Way galaxy Geography *Norma, Lazi ...

''.Massimo Alberini, Giorgio Mistretta, ''Guida all'Italia gastronomica'', Touring Club Italiano, 1984, p. 337 It is said that the Italian writer

Nino Martoglio Nino Martoglio (Belpasso, Paternò, 3 December 1870 — Catania, 15 September 1921) was an Italy, Italian writer, publisher, journalist and producer of theatrical works. He wrote mostly in Sicilian language, Sicilian and likewise, his theatrical w ...

exclaimed "This is a real 'Norma'!", meaning a masterpiece, when he tasted the dish, though the name is not attested until decades after his death.Google Books search
/ref> Pasta alla Norma was named "dish of the year" by the Tourism Award in 2018."Ricetta pasta alla norma, la 'siciliana' più amata dagli italiani", ''Messina Today''

/ref>

References

{{Cuisine of Italy Cuisine of Sicily Pasta dishes Eggplant dishes Catania

See also

References