Penne alla Norma

Just home from our trip to Sicily and as said in the post before, the food was excellent! Even in restaurants that locals would consider crappy, for us it was much better than a lot of Italian restaurants we find in our own country. Ingredients were always fresh, for example. People sold food beside the roads, from their own land I guess, so maybe fruits and vegetables weren't even genetically manipulated, too. 

One of the things we ate a couple of times was Penne alla Norma. As a vegetarian I loved to find a dish like this. There's no meat in it, but it's not vegetarian per se, and that are the recipes I like the most.

www.betweennapsontheporch.net

Want to try it?

What to use (for 4)

Pasta (the original used pasta is penne, but any pasta will do)

olive oil

1 onion

2 garlic cloves

1 egg plant

 1 pound of tomatoes
basil leaves
ricotta

What to do

Cook the pasta as said on the packaging

Heat the oil

Cut onion and garlic in little pieces

Add to oil and cook until soft

Cut the egg plant in slices and season with salt and pepper
Cut slices in four pieces

Add to onion and garlic and cook until moist is released

Cut the tomatoes in four pieces and remove the core

Add to onion, garlic and egg plant and add 100 cc water
 Tear the basil leaves in little pieces and add to the sauce
Cook until all ingredient are soft
Stir until it looks like a sauce
Put the pasta on 4 plates and add the sauce
Scoop a tablespoon of ricotta over the sauce
Top with basil leaves

Buon Appetito!