Pasta alla Norma is a native recipe of Catania, where it is called – in the local dialect – pasta ca' Norma. It is characterized by typically Mediterranean flavors: pasta (usually macaroni), tomato sauce, and successively fried eggplant, salted ricotta (an Italian version of cottage cheese), and basil. Legend has it that it was the Sicilian comedy writer Nino Martoglio who gave it its name. Upon tasting the dish, he is said to have exclaimed: “It’s a Norma!” comparing it supreme scrumptiousness to the opera piece by Vincenzo Bellini.
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