By: Pasta Grannies

Caterina’s lasagne are tagliatelle ribbons which she dresses with a fresh tomato and eggplant sauce, using vegetables from her garden.

This is an excellent summer pasta dish from Sicily!

I suspect the good housewives of Sicily were making this dish long before an enterprising chef gave it the name ‘pasta alla Norma’. And as stated in the voiceover, lasagne is a generic word used to describe flat sheets and shapes of pasta.

Caterina uses ‘lasagne’ and ‘tagliatelle’ to describe her pasta in this session.

Both are correct.

Ingredients

2 medium eggplant/aubergines, sliced lengthways and halved

1 onion, sliced

1 garlic clove, sliced

4 large flavorsome tomatoes

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil for the sauce, plus more for frying the eggplant (or use a neutral vegetable oil for frying them)

Plenty of fresh basil leaves (around 25g)

100g grated ricotta salata

For the pasta, halve the quantities Caterina uses (unless you are hosting a party).

250g semolina flour (semola rimacinata)

2 eggs and a tablespoon or two of water (it depends on the size of your eggs).

Alternatively, omit the eggs and use 125g water

Click here for more videos and recipes from Pasta Grannies.