Pasta e patate – Pasta with potatoes, a dish from the South of Italy
febbraio 23, 2012
Before marrying your grandfather and going on our honeymoon in the South of Italy, in the Basilicata region, to visit my in-laws, Grandma told me, I had never heard of pasta and… pasta and potatoes, pasta and fava beans, pasta and beans… We used to eat pasta, soup or broth, but we had never had a pasta cooked that way!
This is what my grandmother told me when I asked her where she learnt to cook pasta e patate, pasta cooked with potatoes, one of the most comfortable dish you can think of in a cold winter day.
Pasta e patate is a traditional dish, belonging to the inventive food tradition of South Italy. My grandma Marcella learnt to cook pasta with potatoes from my Aunt Valeria, my granddad’s sister, and from that day of many many years ago she developed her own recipe, revised according to our ingredients, to her personal taste and cooking style.
For example, instead of caciocavallo, a hard and sharp flavoured pear shaped cheese from the South of Italy, we use grated Parmigiano Reggiano and also the leftover crusts of this cheese, cut into cubes. Once you boil them for a while, they become soft and chewy, giving an intense flavour to the broth.
From unknown recipe it became the rewarding and cosy dish of cold days. In these snowy days Grandma comes often to our house at lunch time with a wooden tray with all the ingredients, already measured and divided into small bowls, and while we set the table she cooks us for our pasta with potatoes in a small pot on low flame: this is her secret in the kitchen.
As befits the traditional Italian peasant cooking, few ingredients are used in an inventive way to produce a rich taste and a creamy texture, made even more enticing by the alternation of potatoes and pasta with cubes of chewy crusts of Parmesan.
A hint of freshly ground black pepper or a pinch of crushed red hot chilly pepper will add the right amount of fire to warm you up, from inside out.
It is highly recommended to hold the bowl of pasta with potatoes in your hands on the coldest days and to inhale the cosy scent with closed eyes before you eat it: a stream of home and family memories will pass through your eyes. This is the power of simplicity.
To read the recipe for my pasta e patate visit Tamara’s blog, Bite my cake. She’s so young and in the same time so talented! I am happy to contribute with a guest post to her Eat global series, since I love cross cultural exchanges.
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Posted in Family recipes, First course, Pasta, Vegetarian Recipes
Chickpea cake with carrot hummus
febbraio 23rd, 2012 at 10:21
thank you Juls for stopping by on my blog, your recipes are really inspiring.
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febbraio 23rd, 2012 at 10:55
Ooh, love the sound of this dish! and there’s nothing like those stories passed on by family elders
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febbraio 23rd, 2012 at 12:30
This is interesting because we, Hungarians, have a traditional pasta & potato meal!
I cooked it last week! We cook the potato, then saute onion in a pan. We add the half mashed potato, season with salt, pepper and paprika. We also add some pasta water to it to make it a bit creamier then we combine this with the cooked pasta. It is true a winter comfort meal!
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febbraio 23rd, 2012 at 12:51
Giulia, can’t thank you enough for this lovely dish and beautiful memories you shared at my blog!
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febbraio 23rd, 2012 at 13:22
A wonderful combination and interesting dish! So comforting and nourishing.
Cheers,
Rosa
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febbraio 23rd, 2012 at 17:48
Gulia, I must confess my love for your blog
Thank you for sharing all these lovely stories and mouth-watering recipes. You’re such an inspiration 
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Giulia Risposta:
febbraio 24th, 2012 alle 08:39
thank you so much! all your comments and feedback are the greatest inspiration for me!
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febbraio 23rd, 2012 at 17:59
Giulia, this recipe is so inspiring! Thanks for sharing
Love this photos, too 
kisses
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febbraio 23rd, 2012 at 19:08
I have never thought of putting pasta and potatoes together – I do make chickpeas and potatoes very often. I am anxious to try your recipe, it looks delicious.
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Giulia Risposta:
febbraio 24th, 2012 alle 08:40
chickpeas and potatoes? uhm, interesting!!
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febbraio 24th, 2012 at 01:51
This dish look soo good! I love the combination with potatoes. I’d be in starch heaven! Yum.
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febbraio 24th, 2012 at 03:20
Haha, this would be heaven for my carb-loving wife!
Looks delicious and creamy!
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febbraio 24th, 2012 at 20:47
Juls, what an interesting idea to pair pasta with potatoes. Both are such comfort foods on their own, but together? Yum. The dish looks quite creamy and almost ‘saucy’, really lovely. I really appreciate seeing rustic, simple ingredients (and not necessarily too many of them) come together to create an elegant and comforting dish. Thanks for sharing this family gem, my friend!
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febbraio 24th, 2012 at 22:20
I’ve never actually made this dish but have many friends that this is a staple in the house.
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febbraio 25th, 2012 at 09:45
lovely, simple and inviting! looks really perfect for a cold day. Thank you Guilia for sharing your delicious family secrets. xox
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febbraio 25th, 2012 at 23:54
Feeling a bit under the weather, this sounds like it will be perfect for today. thank you.
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marzo 2nd, 2012 at 21:41
[...] week we’re featuring a blog called Jul’s Kitchen, authored by a young toscana, a thirty-something Tuscan woman named Giulia (below, HOW adorable is [...]
dicembre 29th, 2012 at 13:55
Hi Giulia, I tried to get to the recipe but unfortunately the link is defective, it takes me to other Tamara’s recipes. I am sure it is a great recipe but I would like to know the ingredients! Baci
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Giulia Risposta:
dicembre 29th, 2012 alle 13:58
Hi Daniela, here it is!
http://bite-my-cake.blogspot.it/2012/02/gost-bloger-italija-giulia-scarpaleggia.html
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