That little dribble of drool came out of the side of my husband’s mouth again before we left for the States. With the intention of getting rid of any food that may go bad in our house, I made a recipe from my new Slow Food cookbook, of pasta, patate e provola. I had made the pasta and potatoes in the past, and decided to give this a go since we had a little provola in the fridge, and I like to indulge my husband…every once in a while.

My husband was in heaven, which I was happy about, my daughter tried a bite or two, seemed to like it, she is after all napoletana. I can’t say that I loved it, it felt like a clogged artery on a plate, but it tasted good and if it ever gets really cold in Grottaglie I’ll be serving this up to the family.

Pasta, Patate e Provola

translated from Le Ricette di Osterie d’Italia: Antipasti, primi, secondi, conserve e dolci scelti da Slow Food per cucinare la tradizione regionale from Slow Food Editore

• 1 lb pasta mista
• 1 generous lb potatoes, peeled and diced
• 8 cherry tomatoes
• 1/4 lb onions, minced
• 1 stick of celery, minced
• a small carrot, minced
• a few basil leaves
• a 1/2 inch piece of lardo, salami, bacon or pancetta (I used a piece of salami, not having any lard at hand, it isn’t meant to be eaten, it is there for added flavour)
• 1/2 lb of smoked provola cheese, cut into small pieces
• 3 tbsp of grated parmigiano reggiano
• 4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Prepare a “battuto” with the lard (salami), the onion, carrot and the celery and gently sauté with the olive oil; add the tomatoes that you have squished in the palm of your hand and add the potatoes. Let the ingredients stew, adding, if necessary, a bit of water.

When the potatoes are about half cooked, add 4 or 5 ladles of warm salted water. When the water starts to boil, add the pasta, stir and continue adding the warm salted water, a little at a time, like a risotto, leaving it to progressively absorb the water. Turn the heat off when the pasta is almost ready but still very al dente.

Put the pasta and the potatoes in a casserole dish and put it back on a low flame dressing it with black pepper, parmigiano and the smoked provola. Add the basil and when the provola starts to melt, serve.

One Year Ago: Seed Crusted Pork Loin & Zucchini and Smoked Salmon Spaghetti

Two Years Ago: Snapper alla Matalotta

Four Years Ago: Renella, Pizza, Zucchine alla Scapece, Obama!! & Linguine with Artichokes

Happy to wake up with an election hangover to 4 more years of Barack Obama! I’m proud of my country for continuing to love and support this president. I can return to Italy on Friday, not feeling like I have to explain myself to anyone, at least not for our choice of the president.

~ by italicious on November 7, 2012.

Posted in basil, Campania, formaggi, pasta, potato
Tags: Campania, Naples, pasta, potatoes, smoked provola, starch