Straight from the Alessandro Borghese TV show Kitchen Sound, a recipe hailing from the deep South. Pasta alla Norma is a recipe from Catania; a tribute to Vincenzo Bellini and his opera "La Norma," which Chef Alessandro Borghese believes is inspired by Ettore Scola's film "Ugly, Dirty, and Bad": Nino Manfredi lives in a Roman slum where his relatives try to poison him with a plate of pasta "alla Norma"; however, it isn't poisoned ;)
The Norma with plenty of basil is a Rock'n Roll dish and the fusillone is perfect because the sauce wraps around it and it's a spectacle!
Recipe by Alessandro Borghese Kitchen Sound
Ingredients for 4 people- 320 g Fusilloni
- 1 eggplant
- 500 g Tomato sauce
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1 fresh chili pepper
- Basil to taste
- Salt to taste
- Green pepper to taste
- Salted ricotta to taste
- Extra virgin olive oil to taste
- Semolina flour to taste
- Peanut oil to taste
Prepare the sauce by heating extra virgin olive oil in a small saucepan with an unpeeled crushed garlic clove and fresh chili pepper flakes. Add the tomato sauce and plenty of basil, season with salt and pepper. Peel the eggplant and remove the outer layers, peeling them. Dice them and coat them in semolina flour. Cook the fusilli in boiling salted water and fry the eggplant cubes in hot peanut oil. Toss the pasta with the sauce and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Remove the garlic, add the fried eggplant, and stir.
Serve the fusilli alla Norma, garnishing with grated salted ricotta and basil leaves.
