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Pasta alla Siciliana is a dish that is never missing in my kitchen! Itโs an exquisite pasta with tomato sauce, fried eggplants and fiordilatte mozzarella! The name could be misleading: in fact there are some elements that recall the legendary and very Sicilian pasta alla Norma, but this dish is of Neapolitan origins. History has it that the Neapolitans were inspired by the flavors of Norma to create this substantial first course. There is no single way to make it, I will reveal to you how I like it best: a simple sauce flavored with onion cooked slowly in a pan, fried eggplants, diced fiordilatte mozzarella and lots of basilโฆ these are the elements that they are expertly mixed to season the rigatoni. The perfect pasta for Sunday lunch, to share with friends and relatives at the table or to take to the beach!
The result is an exceptional dish, which if it has leftovers is delicious even the next day.
Letโs find out together how to prepare it step by step.
Recommended products to make this dish:
Partanna Sicilian Extra Virgin Olive Oil is made with Nocellara del Belice olives also known as Castelvetrano Olives in Sicily, Italy
Pasta alla Siciliana
Description
Perfect for Sunday lunch and beyond, pan-fried Sicilian pasta is truly exceptional.
It is a simple but super good first course, cooked in a pan in this case and therefore also perfect for the summer season when you don't feel like turning on the oven.
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Ingredients
Instructions
The first thing to consider when preparing Sicilian pasta in a pan is the eggplant. Remove the peduncle, divide into slices and each slice in turn into strips and then into cubes.
Place the eggplant cubes in a bowl and sprinkle with plenty of salt.
Place a plate on the eggplant cubes, so that it adds weight and helps them to lose the vegetation liquid. Let it rest for about an hour. Then you can rinse them quickly to remove excess salt and pat dry with a sheet of absorbent paper.
All that remains is to fry the eggplant cubes in hot seed oil, turning them with a spatula.
As soon as they are golden you can drain them and pour them onto a sheet of absorbent paper to eliminate excess oil. Continue in this way with all the eggplants at your disposal.
Only at the end of cooking can you add salt according to your tastes.In the meantime, bring some water to the boil in a large pan, add salt and then cook the rigatoni until al dente.
In a paella, brown a clove of garlic ot diced onion with extra virgin olive oil and then add the tomato puree. If necessary, add a little water if the puree is too thick.
Season with salt and pepper according to your taste, cover with a lid and continue cooking for about 15 minutes or until your sauce begins to reduce.
Now remove the clove of garlic added initially, which we left whole.
Add the aubergine cubes that you initially fried to the tomato sauce.When the pasta is al dente, we stir it and turn it into the pan with the sauce. Mix well to cut the dough all together.
Now you can also add the mozzarella fiordilatte which has been cut into cubes.
When the mozzarella starts to string, also add some basil leaves, breaking them into coarse pieces.
Continue to heat on medium heat until all the ingredients are well mixed together.ยBring the Sicilian rigatoni to the table when they are still very hot so as to appreciate their stringy note.
Buon Appetito!
Note
If you prefer, you can also prepare this Sicilian-style pasta in the oven. In this case, cook the pasta and drain it halfway through cooking. Separately, cook the tomato sauce and add the eggplants.
Drain the pasta and pour it into a bowl. Pour the sauce with the eggplants and then the basil and mozzarella. Mix everything with a spoon. Pour into a bowl, sprinkle with oil and cheese to taste and bake at 400ยฐF for about 15 minutes or until the surface is crunchy.
In this case I used rigatoni but any pasta shape will work.
If there is any leftover, you can sautรฉ it in a pan the next day with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and, if you want, some grated cheese. It will be even better!
Sicilian pasta can be stored for 2-3 days in the refrigerator in an airtight container.
