FOOD & DRINK FLASH IN THE PAN
Pasta alla Norma BY ARI LEVAUX
Photo by Edgie/Getty Images.
T
here’s nothing normal about alla Norma, a Sicilian way of serving pasta smothered in an eggplant and tomato sauce. If you enjoy eggplant Parmesan, Ratatouille, Iman Bayildi or any number of eggplant and tomato dishes, you probably understand that eggplant and tomato are a special combination. They are close relatives, taxonomically, sharing not only the same family but the same genus, which means they are as close to being the same species as you can get without being able to make babies. The family resemblance between eggplant and tomatoes is not obvious. Tomatoes are red, sharp and juicy, while eggplant is meaty, blue in hue and spongy dry inside. The plants that produce them may not be
able to interbreed, but the fruits enjoy the mix and mingle that happens in the pan. Pasta alla Norma is named after an opera by the Sicilian composer Vincenzo Bellini, and christened by the poet Nino Martoglio, also of Sicily, who tried a bite of this dish and declared it to be the “Norma” of pasta, thereby declaring both Sicilian products to be all-time greats in a single triumphant sentence. Martoglio died 101 years ago, but the tradition of the pasta dish he named lives on. Chef Philip Guardione of the acclaimed Piccola Cucina in Red Lodge Montana, fondly recalls his grandmother’s version of the dish, and the entire day leading up to it. “Pasta alla Norma was our family’s binding agent on Sundays. I have many
related childhood memories, like when my grandma was in the kitchen and the smell of her tomato sauce and eggplants would welcome you the minute you opened the front door,” he told me. Today at Piccola Cucina, Guardione serves the alla Norma sauce with a house made maccheroni pasta that’s long and folded with a hand hewn look. He was generous enough to share it as brilliant a representation of the glory of tomatoes and eggplants as you’ll find. Up there in the same rarefied air as the eggplant Parmesan sub from Armando’s pizza that composed most of my calories growing up, but on homemade noodles instead of Italian roll. It didn’t hurt that the soprano Bellini chose was named Guiditta Pasta.
Photo courtesy of Piccola Cucina.
PASTA ALLA NORMA (ALLA CHEF PHILIP GUARDIONE) I’ve lightly edited Chef Guardione’s recipe for clarity. Below it, I’ve added some notes of my own on pasta in general, and how to follow this recipe.
INGREDIENTS: • 500 g (1 lb) of cherry or grape tomatoes • 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil for the sauté • 2 cloves of garlic, chopped • 350 g (12 oz) pasta • Salt for the water, and for seasoning • ½ liter (2 cups) of extra virgin olive oil for frying • 500 g (1 lb) eggplants • 10 leaves of fresh basil • 200 g (7 oz) ricotta salata cheese, grated
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