Easy Pasta alla Norma (no frying eggplant)
This hearty and satisfying Italian Pasta alla Norma is the most comforting pasta dish ever! No need to fry the eggplant in oil, which makes the preparation easy and fuss-free. You’ll be rewarded with the most creamy Pasta alla Norma.
Yield: 3 servings
Ingredients
- 250 g (8.8 oz) dry rigatoni (you can substitute other pasta like penne or fusilli)
- 1 medium eggplant (ca. 320 g)
- 1 small yellow onion (50 g, about ¼ cup diced)
- 2 cloves garlic
- 5 stalks basil (about 25-30 leaves)
- 2 cups (500 g/17.6 oz) tomato sauce (see notes)
- 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated black pepper
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar (optional, for balancing out the tomatoes’ acidity)
- 3 tablespoons freshly grated parmesan (15 g)
- Oil
For serving:
- Fresh basil
- Grated parmesan
Instructions
- Wash the eggplant and dice into small pieces, roughly ½-¾ inch or 1.5-2 cm.
- Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a frying pan. Add eggplant cubes, sprinkle with salt, and sauté for about 5 minutes over medium high heat, stirring occasionally.
- In the meantime, peel and finely dice the onion. Peel and gently crush the garlic with the flat side of a knife. The garlic cloves should remain in one piece.
- Add diced onion and crushed garlic and sauté for 3 minutes, stirring often. Add another tablespoon oil if needed.
- Bring a pot of salted water for the pasta to a boil. Cook the pasta in salted water until al dente, about 13 minutes for rigatoni. Reserve 1 cup of pasta cooking water, then drain. While the pasta cooks, continue with the sauce.
- Add tomato sauce, pepper and sugar to the sautéed veggies. Add fresh basil leaves and ¼ cup (60 ml) pasta cooking water to the sauce.
- Simmer the sauce for 5-10 minutes or until the pasta is ready (just keep it warm on the stove if pasta is not ready yet). The sauce should be thick and creamy – add more cooking water if needed.
- Stir in parmesan. Remove garlic cloves, if desired. Taste and adjust salt and pepper.
- Toss drained pasta with the sauce. Serve with fresh basil and grated parmesan. Enjoy!
Notes
Tomato sauce:
I use plain tomato sauce aka passata with no additives but salt. But you can also use marinara sauce with herbs like basil. If you only have a 14 or 15-oz can (400 g) of crushed/finely chopped tomatoes that’s fine too. In this case add an additional 2 tablespoons of tomato paste and a splash of water.