Spaghetti alla Norma
Typical Sicilian Dish

Ingredients:

320 g spaghetti

300 g round eggplant

400 g peeled tomatoes

50 g fresh ricotta cheese

3 tsp extra-virgin olive oil

5 or 6 basil leaves

1 garlic clove

a pinch of salt

Preparation

Chop the garlic clove finely and cut the eggplants into cubes. 
Fry the garlic and eggplants in oil, then add the tomatoes and salt. 
Cook for about 20 minutes.  Cook the spaghetti “al dente” (since it is more fragrant and easier to digest), then drain and turn it to a tureen. Mix in the sauce, the crumbled ricotta cheese and basil leaves. 

Foods have to be cooked just right, otherwise they lose their natural characteristics and taste.
Potherbs should always be added at the end, that is when the cooking time is almost finished, so that heat cannot nullify or alter their aromatic properties.

The dish

This dish is characterized by various primary flavors, that is eggplants, tomatoes, ricotta cheese and basil. Since there is no flavor which prevails over the others, this is a “compound” dish, that is characterized by many sensations. And to choose the wine with the right structure, it is necessary to take into consideration all the ingredients.

The wine

It is easier to choose a suitable wine for a “compound” dish – that is characterized by many primary flavors – than a wine which has to accompany a dish with a primary flavor. As a matter of fact, wine is a natural “compound” of flavors and smells. 
As a result, "spaghetti alla norma" needs a mature, harmonious, not very acid and non-tannic white wine. Tannin, which is a hard and mouth-drying substance contained in red wines, would therefore alter the flavor of ricotta cheese. 

The ideal wine should be medium-bodied (since the dish is mainly composed of vegetables), fittingly aromatic (thanks to basil), with a low alcoholic content (11.5-12°), and a rather persistent flavor characterized by a slightly sourish relish in order to match the sour flavor of eggplants.