Pizza alla norma

PIZZA ALLA NORMA is the Sicilian pizza par excellence, prepared with fried eggplant and salted ricotta. A delicious recipe reminiscent of the famous PASTA ALLA NORMA Catanese. This is the pan version, which in Sicily also call "focaccia" or "pan pizza". The dough is fluffy and honeycombed with a crispy crust and base. I can assure you that you will love it from the first bite. A PIZZA MARGHERITA with the addition of fried eggplant cubes and salted ricotta. You can cook the eggplants in slices or cubes, as I did. For a richer flavor you can enrich it with pieces of hard-boiled egg and prosciutto. In this case you will get the PIZZA ALLA PARMIGIANA which resembles the famous eggplant-based main course, which we all know. If you love zucchini, try substituting them for eggplant, you will feel how delicious!

Pizza alla Norma is a typical Sicilian pizza, rich in taste and stuffed with simple ingredients: tomato and mozzarella that are the indisputable basis of a good pizza Margherita, with the addition of fried eggplant and salted ricotta to transform it into a really delicious pizza alla Norma. Pizza alla Norma is a recipe that comes from the taste of wanting to reproduce the famous pasta alla Norma, in the form of pizza in a reinterpretation of a dish of excellence symbol of Catania cuisine. With this recipe you can enjoy a very soft pan pizza but with a thin and golden crust.

Ingredients

2 aubergines

100 g salted ricotta

250 g mozzarella for pizza 

extra virgin olive oil to taste

200 ml tomato puree (seasoned with: salt, black pepper, oregano and oil)

basil to taste

Steps

Fry the eggplant. Cut them into cubes that are not too small, cook them in plenty of hot seed oil and then drain them in a colander. This way they will lose the excess oil from cooking. When the dough of the PIZZA ALLA NORMA has become puffy, take it back and place it in an oiled baking tray. Pour more oil on the dough and start rolling it out with your hands, trying to cover the entire pan. Do not roll it out with a rolling pin, but press it and push it gently with your fingers. At the end, let rise for about 30-60 m in the oven turned off. The dough should swell. After this time, spread the seasoned tomato puree over the entire surface. Start baking the PIZZA IN PAN in a preheated oven at 220°C ventilated (or better with pizza function) for about 15 minutes. It should become swollen and slightly golden underneath. Then take it out of the oven and toss it with the mozzarella (I blend it first), the fried eggplant and a few fresh basil leaves. Put the FOCACCIA ALLA NORMA back in the oven and finish cooking (you can also do the last cooking after a few hours). Bake it at 190°C ventilated for about 15 minutes. It should be golden on the top and bottom.

Tip

You can replace the "alla Norma" dressing with the ingredients you like best. You can freeze the pre-cooked pizza base or the pizza already seasoned.