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Friday, October 12, 2007

Pasta alla Norma

The site incucina.tv is one of the better Italian food sites, distinguished by an ample supply of videos illustrating the recipes. There is an Italian version and an English-language version, and as usual, the English version is relatively limited. Measurements are metric.

Here is their page on pasta alla Norma, with both a traditional recipe card and a video. The famous Sicilian dish was apparently named after native son and composer Vincenzo Bellini from Catania, who wrote the opera by the same name.

While they call for spaghetti in the recipe, it is more usually prepared with short pasta. The preparation is fairly straightforward, the only obstacle being procuring the ricotta salata, which can be found in specialty stores. If unavailable, try substituting a good Pecorino or even crumbled feta.