What Is Pasta alla Norma? The Dish Named for an Opera

Pasta alla Norma is Sicily's most famous pasta dish: fried eggplant, tomato sauce, fresh basil, and a snowfall of grated ricotta salata over the top. It comes from Catania, on the eastern side of the island, and it is named after an opera.

That last part is the good story, so let's start there.

Why is it named after an opera?

Catania's most celebrated son is Vincenzo Bellini, the composer, born there in 1801. His masterpiece is Norma, which premiered in 1831 and is still one of the most demanding roles in all of opera. In Catania, Bellini is everywhere: the airport carries his name, so does the theater, so does the main square.

The story Sicilians tell is that the playwright Nino Martoglio was served this pasta, took one bite, and called out that it was a real Norma, meaning a masterpiece on the level of Bellini's opera. The name stuck. Whether it happened exactly that way is anybody's guess, and every family in Catania will tell you their version. We love it either way. It is the only pasta we know of that got its name as a review.

What goes in pasta alla Norma?

Four things, and the whole dish rests on getting each one right.

Eggplant. Fried, not roasted, and that is not a small distinction. Frying gives the eggplant a silky interior and a little richness that carries the whole plate. We do not salt it beforehand. Salting is a step cooks inherited from older varieties that were genuinely bitter, and the eggplant we use is not. It goes straight into the oil. Sicilians treat eggplant as a main character, not a vegetable side note.

Tomato. Simple, bright, and cooked just long enough. This is not a sauce that simmers all afternoon. Sicilian tomatoes grow in volcanic soil under a lot of sun, and the goal is to stay out of their way.

Ricotta salata. This is the one people ask about. It is not the soft ricotta you spread on toast. It is ricotta that has been pressed, salted, and aged until it is firm enough to grate, and it arrives on the plate in a white drift over the red sauce. Salty, milky, a little sharp. Without it, you have a nice eggplant pasta. With it, you have Norma.

Basil. Torn, added at the end, never cooked into submission.

How does 'mina make pasta alla Norma?

Chef Leonardo Li Mura grew up in Catania, which means this is not a dish he learned from a book. It is the food of his childhood, and he cooks the version he grew up eating.

The pasta underneath is half-sized rigatoni, made in our kitchen every day from stone-milled ancient Sicilian grains. The shape is doing work. Ridged tubes catch sauce on the outside and hold it on the inside, and cutting the rigatoni short puts them on the same scale as the cubes of eggplant, so one forkful gets you pasta, eggplant, sauce, and cheese together. Long noodles cannot do that.

It is also, quietly, one of the most popular things we serve. Order it once and you understand why Catania named it after a masterpiece.

Is pasta alla Norma vegetarian or gluten-free?

It is vegetarian as written. There is no meat in the traditional recipe, which is part of why it has fed Sicilian families for two centuries.

As for gluten, almost everything on our menu can be prepared gluten-free, with a dedicated process in the kitchen to protect against cross-contact rather than simply leaving an ingredient out. Tell your server when you sit down and they will walk you through it.

Quick answers

What is pasta alla Norma? A Sicilian pasta dish from Catania made with fried eggplant, tomato sauce, basil, and grated ricotta salata.

Why is it called Norma? It is named for the opera Norma by Vincenzo Bellini, who was born in Catania. The story goes that a local playwright called the dish a masterpiece worthy of Bellini, and the name stayed.

What is ricotta salata? Ricotta that has been pressed, salted, and aged until firm enough to grate. It is salty and slightly sharp, and it is what makes Norma taste like Norma.

Is pasta alla Norma vegetarian? Yes. The traditional recipe has no meat in it.

What pasta shape goes with pasta alla Norma? Traditionally a short tube such as maccheroni or rigatoni, though spaghetti is common in Catania too. At 'mina it is half-sized rigatoni, short enough to match the eggplant in a single forkful.

Where can I eat pasta alla Norma in Salt Lake City? At 'mina, where our chef is from Catania and the pasta is made in house every day.