Neapolitan-style pasta and potatoes

If you’re not yet familiar with Neapolitan-style pasta and potatoes, you’re about to experience a whole new world! That’s no exaggeration, either, because this dish, a delicious variation on the classic pasta and potatoes, even took us by surprise at first, not only with the way that it’s made and cooked but also with its wonderful flavor. What we have here is a dish of humble origins, although we’ve seen increasingly “gourmet” versions, such as potatoes and mussels, emerging more recently. Pasta and potatoes came about as a result of the need for hearty and comforting one-pot dishes that first and foremost contained lots of carbohydrates, courtesy of the two main ingredients. The vegetables are fried in pork fat to make for a richer sauce, while tomato paste, which can be replaced with fresh tomatoes during the summer months, is added for color. Then, of course, there’s the key ingredient of Neapolitan-style pasta and potatoes: the cheese rind! Many people simply discard it, but they really don’t know what they’re missing by not adding it to their recipes, such as, for example, to pasta and beans. The rind actually softens in the pan, releasing some of the cheese still attached to it and giving the dish a delicious creaminess, while the outer part, carefully cleaned and grated, is great for chewing on: Our tip, if you want to avoid any diplomatic clashes at the table, would be to cut it into as many pieces as there are diners so that everyone gets their share. Keen to find out how to make this wonderful Neapolitan-style pasta and potatoes yourself? Read on for our version of the dish, and once you’ve tried the end result, why not check out other traditional recipes such as soffritto napoletano (Neapolitan pork tripe stew) and genovese (white beef ragù with onions).