Pasta alla Norma

Pasta alla Norma is a traditional Sicilian dish of pasta dressed with fried eggplant, tomato sauce, basil, and ricotta salata. The dish, which was already a popular dish throughout Sicilia, got its name from the opera Norma, by Vincenzo Bellini, who was born in the city of Catania, in Sicilia. Rigatoni, derived from the word rigato, meaning “ridged,” is a perennial favorite in parts of southern Italy, and particularly in Sicilia. The ridges on th