Pasta and potatoes is a classic dish in Naples, and in people’s homes, it’s served directly from a round grater to save time. This is how one of the partners of the Muu Muuzzarella restaurants, Salvatore Maresca, remembers it from when he was a boy. But in their restaurants, the Neapolitan version comes with a twist, buffalo mozzarella, of course – a trademark of the Muu Muuzzarella restaurants.
This is precisely where Salvatore’s idea came from. Why do we only eat mozzarella as an appetizer, or on pizza? At Muu Muuzzarella, all the dishes have buffalo mozzarella DOP from the Campania region but combined with meat, fish, vegetables, and salumi in unusual combinations, such as mozzarella served with pesto and apples, tuna and mozzarella tartare with Sorrento lemons, or this version of pasta and potatoes. Here’s the recipe for pasta and potatoes in a grater, or de ’a pasta e patate dint ’a rattacasa, as they say in the shadow of Vesuvius.
Pasta e Patate
Serves 4
Ingredients:
2 lb. 3 oz medium-sized potatoes
16 oz mixed durum wheat bronze-drawn pasta
extra-virgin olive oil
1 onion
10 cherry tomatoes
4 oz pancetta
7 oz fresh smoked buffalo mozzarella
5 tbsp grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
2 rinds of Parmigiano Reggiano
Method:
First peel the potatoes, dice them into regular cubes and soak them in a bowl covered with cold water. In a non-stick pan large enough to cook the pasta, cook some thinly sliced onions and diced pancetta over high heat, being careful not to burn them. Once the pancetta is crispy, add the potatoes drained from the water, the cherry tomatoes (whole, uncut), salt and pepper, and let it all cook together for about 5 minutes, stirring often. Cover the potatoes with water, bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, then cover and cook for 30 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked (they must not break apart, but be very soft). Halfway through cooking, crush the cherry tomatoes well. Keep some boiling water in a pot handy on the stove and throw the pasta into the pot along with the potatoes and the Parmigiano rinds. Add more water to the pot as you cook the pasta, if necessary. Once cooked al dente, taste for salt and pepper, turn off and stir in the diced buffalo mozzarella with a little oil. Let rest for a few minutes and serve hot, with a little bit of freshly grated Parmigiano.