Who is Norma and why does she have a recipe named for her?
Bellini’s Opera, Norma, first produced in 1831, was considered to be so brilliant that his delighted compatriots started using the new superlative una vera Norma (A real Norma), which was used to praise the merits of a product or a deed.
Years later when theatrical producer Nino Martoglio tasted this typical regional dish, he was overwhelmed by its flavours, and called it Spaghetti alla Norma.
Ricotta Salata
Ricotta isn’t the name of a cheese, it’s the name of a cheese-making process and means “”recooked”. Salata means ‘salted’, so Ricotta Salata is a simple salted cheese, processed in the ricotta style.
The milk curds and whey used to make this cheese are pressed and dried before the cheese is aged. The result is a pure white cheese, not at all crumbly or with that scrambled-egg texture common to what is mainly sold as ricotta.
Ricotta Salata has a dense but slightly spongy texture and a salty, milky flavour. It’s the perfect cheese to make Pasta alla Norma but if you can’t find it, use a dry feta.
Here’s a recipe for simple tomato sauce or, if you don’t have any, use a can of Roma tomatoes instead.
Ingredients
- 450 -500 grams of spaghetti or any other long pasta
- 3 eggplants
- olive oil to fry the eggplants
- 2 teaspoons coarse salt
- 2 teaspoons plain all purpose flour
- tomato sauce
- 1/2 cup torn fresh basil leaves
- 200 grams ricotta salata
Method
- Cut the eggplants lengthways and sprinkle with salt.
- Leave them for a little over an hour in a colander, wash under running water, squeeze, and cut into slices.
- Fry in hot olive oil, a few at a time, about two minutes on each side. Wipe off excess oil.
- Bring a pot of water to the boil, add a few drops of oil and add 500 grams of pasta. Cook until al dente. When cooked, drain and pour into a large bowl.
- Stir in 200g of grated ricotta salata. Mix well.
- Pour the tomato sauce over and arrange the eggplant slices on top.
- Lightly mix torn basil leaves through.
