Sunday Dinner: Pasta e Patate

Pasta e Patate
*serves 6

We have encountered yet another Sunday at the senior center which means it’s macaroni time. Today’s meal of choice was the good old Neapolitan and childhood staple of pasta e patate, aka, pasta and potatoes. Yes, I spent the majority of my childhood eating double carbs because my grandmother made this weekly and, if I had it my way, I would have eaten it daily.

Making this dish always brings up fond memories for my father, mother and brother — reminded of my grandmother’s overuse of red pepper and the way she would save the tiniest dish of leftovers and send it upstairs to our apartment for one of us kids to have as a leftover snack the following day. She had a way of cooking that was effortless and she made this meal the heartbeat of our home.

Easy to prepare, the most work you’ll have to invest is in the prep, which includes peeling carrots, gathering onions, celery, garlic and cutting the potatoes into cubes so they cook evenly. But that’s about it. Once I got a food processor, preparing this dish became a quick fix for a Sunday or a weeknight. Poor grandma she did it all by hand until the Black and Decker mini chopper came along. Company always seems to love this dish because eating pasta with potatoes breaks all low carb eating rules and, let’s face it, it’s not a common dish or one seen on Italian restaurant menus in the United States. When I serve it, people often say “Oh, my, pasta with potatoes — how different!” But for me and my family, this meal was standard — normal — delicious and hearty. A nice break from Sunday sauce and pesto — satisfying and always filling.

In Naples you might find it served with chunks of provola aka provolone, but at home we often served it with a snowy mountain of Locatelli — sharp, salty and always readily available in the refrigerator.

When you begin prepping this dish, you’ll start by peeling and cutting the potatoes. You can do this up to 2 hours ahead of time by allowing the cut potatoes to sit in ice cold water — this will stop them from browning. I always find preparing the potatoes, as well as the onions, carrots and celery to be painless and enjoyable. Then again, I cook because I love the preparation and organization part equally if not as much as the serving and eating.

Once you’re ready to start cooking, you’ll strain the potatoes in a colander and let them sit so the water drains. Begin by adding oil, onions, carrots and celery to the pot to being making the patate base. Add tomatoes and, eventually, you’ll also add those well strained potatoes and begin cooking them.

As the potatoes begin to cook in the tomato sauce, they will become tighter because the liquid will begin to evaporate as the potatoes release their starch. Keep a careful eye on your pot at all times, adding chicken stock or water until the potatoes are moist but not soaking in liquid — continue to cook until potatoes are just tender. Remember, the potatoes have to hold up when the pasta is mixed in, so you want to be sure they’re cooked well — not mushy — we don’t want broken down potatoes with pasta. What we’re looking for are potatoes that are whole, soft, with a bite and able to bind with the pasta once it’s added.

After the potatoes have cooked and the pasta is perfectly al dente — again, no mush — add the pasta to the potato pot and gently fold together with a handful of cheese. Serve, hot, with additional red pepper flakes (on the side — because I find guests can’t handle my heavy spice hand — got it from grandma) and more grated Locatelli.

Pasta e Patate
*serves 6

Ingredients
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
3 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
2 stalks of celery, finely chopped
1 15 oz. can of diced tomatoes or 1 1/2 cups of Cento Passata (sieved tomato puree)
1 - 1/12 teaspoons of red pepper flakes
6 medium or large Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cubed
¾ -1 cup of chicken/vegetable stock or water
Basil
10-12 oz. of mini rigatoni, small shells, mixed pasta (pasta mista) or mini-farfalle *in Italy and at our table we would use these
Pecorino Romano / Locatelli for serving

Instructions
—Prepare potatoes by peeling, cubing and placing in cold water until ready to cook — you can prepare these up to 2 hours ahead of time and then strain the potatoes before cooking
—Prep onions, carrots and celery
—Heat olive oil in a heavy bottomed pot, add onion, carrots, celery, red pepper flakes and a dash of salt — cook for 15 minutes over medium low heat until the vegetables begin to soften and release come water
—Add the tomatoes and and cook for an additional 15 minutes
—Add the chicken stock or water and cubed potatoes and cook about 20-25 minutes (cover on the pot to steam) just until potatoes are fork tender — NOT MUSHY
—Fold in a few small leaves of basil once the potatoes have been cooked and allow to sit
—Bring pasta water to boil and cook until al dente (reserve a cup of pasta water - in case you need to loosen the pasta patate for leftovers)
—Drain the pasta and combine with the potatoes
—Serve, hot and topped with Locatelli