This hearty and satisfying Italian Pasta alla Norma is the most comforting pasta dish ever! I never deep fry the eggplant in oil unlike the original recipe but sauté it in a pan instead. This is easy, fuss-free, and makes for a creamy pasta sauce.

Are you a fan of the Italian classic eggplant parmesan? If so, I’m sure you will love this Pasta alla Norma recipe from Sicily. It is made with similar ingredients but is way easier to prepare since there is no deep frying or oven-roasting of the eggplant involved.

The small eggplant cubes melt into the tomato sauce, which makes the sauce incredible creamy. This sauce together with the sturdy rigatoni pasta, fresh basil leaves, and grated parmesan becomes irresistible. It’s the perfect vegetarian pasta dish!

Pasta alla Norma without ricotta salata

My Pasta alla Norma version doesn’t contain ‘ricotta salata’ cheese. This cheese is salted and then aged for a few months, which alters the taste (it’s tangier) and texture compared to regular ricotta. The aging makes the ricotta salata cheese firmer with a kind of crumbly texture that is easier for slicing or grating.

Since this specific kind of cheese is often hard to come by, I omitted it entirely. In my opinion, the grated parmesan is great on its own in this pasta sauce and doesn’t necessarily need a companion.

Rigatoni for Pasta alla Norma

My favorite kind of pasta to use for Pasta alla Norma is rigatoni. This type of pasta is thicker and sturdier than penne and therefore has a chewy texture. You will need to cook it for a few minutes longer. The combination of this kind of pasta with the eggplant-tomato sauce is just perfect!

If not on hand or hard to get at your local store, I’d use penne, fusilli, or ziti.

Recipe for easy Pasta alla Norma

To make this recipe as simple as possible you simply sauté the eggplant in a pan and then toss it with the rest of the ingredients. But let’s start at the beginning…

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.

Now, cook the pasta. And while the pasta cooks, continue with the sauce.

Add tomato sauce, pepper and sugar to the sautéed veggies.

Stir fresh basil leaves and roughly ¼ cup (60 ml) pasta cooking water into 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.

Add the drained pasta to the pan.

Toss the pasta with the eggplant tomato sauce.

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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.

Total Time20 minutes mins

Yield: 3 servings

Author: Ursula | lilvienna.com

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.