One dish, two recipes, and the right masterful touches to refresh your memory of its origins: the typical pasta and potatoes dish is doubled in Michele De Blasio's interpretation, who expands the panorama of Campania cuisine in the fine dining restaurant Volta del Fuenti. The secret ingredient? Discover it in this contemporary variation!
Can a dish of “Pasta e patate” (pasta and potatoes) capture and, at the same time, reshape the essence of Neapolitan cuisine? Yes, if the muse behind it is an aromatic ingredient that is too often underestimated, but which is actually capable of completely transforming the balance of a dish. We are talking about parsley, a herb that Michele De Blasio, executive chef at Volta del Fuenti, has transformed into a “green multiplier” to bring one of the essential ingredients of Campania's culinary alphabet into the present day. At his table, however, there is room for both recipes, orthodox and modern style, both included in the 7-course tasting menu “Riflessioni” (Reflections), precisely to give guests a complete overview. Imagine entering a room overlooking the depths of the Amalfi Coast: beyond the windows, the rocks cutting through the sea, and in front of you, a menu ready to update yesterday's good taste for today.
Pasta and potatoes: Michele de Blasio's classic version
Before revealing the background to this contemporary creation, a quick recap is in order. The Michelin-starred chef has several tricks up his sleeve to create his “memory-evoking” pasta and potatoes: “As a rule, the soffritto (mixture of vegetables to make a sautée) must cook for a long time to develop the right complexity and aromatic depth,” explains De Blasio. “Then, the potatoes must be browned well in a pan, not simply boiled: this step is essential to concentrate the flavors and give body to the dish.” As for creaminess, “this is achieved thanks to the starch released by the pasta during cooking directly in the bottom of the pan with the potatoes, without separating the liquid from the solids.” Finally, the flavor must be perfect: “To this end, a lot of work goes into the intensity of the broth, the concentration of the ingredients, and a measured use of salt and cheese at the end of the creaming process.”
Small masterstrokes that in turn recall a particular mentor: "For me, my attachment to food has its roots in a very dear memory: that of Raffaele Vitale, a chef who played an important role in my personal and professional life. It was he who ‘put his soul’ into translating the territory into flavors, conveying a deep awareness of the region's potential. This lesson is reflected today in my respect for local identity and my ability to reinterpret it.“ Speaking of reinterpretation, a few lines above we mentioned parsley, which in the ”special edition“ of Volta del Fuenti goes from being an ”invisible" ingredient to a tangible element: not a mere cameo, but a protagonist with a leading role. Here's how.
Contemporary pasta and potatoes according to Michele de Blasio
The impetus for change comes from the search for lightness, while preserving the authenticity of the origins. “I wanted to find a way to present the same dish with a simpler structure, while keeping its vigor intact. The research and refinement took several months, during which we worked on techniques and raw ingredients, aiming for a harmony that respected the fundamentals but spoke a contemporary language”. So why not bring parsley into the mix? De Blasio uses it extensively, from smoked butter to cappuccino, right through to the sauce. The aim is to “rehabilitate a product relegated to the role of decoration or accompaniment, transforming it into a new interpretation of pasta and potatoes.” As for the result, we recommend trying the signature dish to fully appreciate its vegetable twist: it will be like looking at a familiar scene through colored lenses; the underlying enveloping flavor prepares the taste buds for the unexpected verticality that emerges. The three-dimensionality of the parsley is striking, divided between flashes of freshness, smoky tones, and a progressive length on the palate. Below is the recipe with two sauces, comfort and gourmet.
Traditional pasta and potatoes
Ingredients for 4
- 240 g pasta
- 160 g yellow potatoes
- 30 g celery
- 40 g spring onion
- 30 g leek
- 20 g guanciale
- 20 g Parmigiano cheese rind
- 2 g thyme
- 4 g rosemary
- 2 g sage
- 10 g parsley leaves
- 40 g provola cheese
- 30 g Parmigiano
- 1 clove garlic
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- Salt and pepper
For the broth
- 3 liters of water
- 50 g celery
- 50 g carrots
- 50 g onion
- 50 g leek
Procedure
Peel and wash the celery, spring onion and leek and cut everything into brunoise (cut the vegetables into 5mm x 5mm cubes); add everything to a frying pan with a drizzle of oil, the guanciale previously cut into julienne strips, the Parmigiano rind and the chopped herbs (thyme, rosemary, sage).
Cook the mixture for at least 3 minutes, stirring continuously. Meanwhile, in a cast iron pan, sauté the potatoes, previously cut into 1 cm cubes, with a drizzle of oil, salt, and pepper and brown them well on all sides, then add them to the mixture and continue cooking for a few minutes so that the potatoes absorb the flavors.
Add the broth, previously prepared with vegetables cut into mirepoix (cut the vegetables into 1 cm cubes) and placed in cold water. Once boiling, cook for 30 minutes and strain through a fine sieve. Bring everything to a boil, season with salt, add the mixed pasta, and continue cooking until the pasta is al dente.
For the mantecatura (creaming)
In a small pan, finely chop the garlic clove and fry in extra-virgin olive oil until golden brown. Add the fried garlic to the pasta and stir in the provola cheese, cut into small cubes, and Parmigiano. Once the desired creaminess is achieved, serve.
Seafood version
Traditional pasta and potatoes can be customized, for example, with a tartare of roasted razor clams: in a pan, add a drizzle of oil, a clove of garlic, and a sprig of thyme, then add the razor clams. Shell them and chop them into a tartare, then serve them over the pasta and potatoes.
Pasta and potatoes - CONTEMPORARY VERSION
INGREDIENTS for 4 people
- Garlic oil to taste
- Sarawak black pepper to taste
- Mixed pasta 28 pastai
For the ham broth
- 25 g leek
- 220 g culaccia
- 40 g stravecchio di bruna alpina peel
- 100 g Lardo d'Arnard
- 1 g thyme
- 5 g rosemary needles
- 75 g celery
- 35 g potato peel
- 150 g water
- 1 sage leaf
- 30 g culaccia pork rind
For the potato base
- 475 g yellow potatoes
- 150 g white onion
- 100 g leek
- 10 g salt
For the potato emulsion
- 700 g potato base
- 250 g ham broth
For the parsley sauce
- 300 g parsley
- 500 g ham broth
For the smoked parsley butter
- 150 g smoked Jersey cream butter
- 150 g parsley leaves
For the parsley cappuccino
- 370 g parsley sauce
- 150 g smoked parsley butter
- 2 g soy lecithin
- 7 g salt
PROCEDURE
For the ham broth
Cut the ham into 5 mm thick slices and combine with mirepoix of leek and celery and cubes of lard: add all the ingredients to a vacuum bag and seal completely. Cook in a steam oven at 80°C for 40 minutes.
For the potato base
Grate the white onion and potatoes, add the julienned leek and salt to the mixture and cook in a steel sauté pan with two handles, caramelizing the starch and deglazing gradually with the ham broth.
For the potato emulsion
Once the base is well caramelized, blend together with the ham broth in a Thermomix for about 1 minute at maximum speed.
For the smoked parsley butter
Place smoked butter and parsley leaves together in the Pacojet beaker and freeze, pacotize 5 times and sieve.
For the parsley sauce
Wash the parsley leaves and place them in a Thermomix with the ham broth and blend for 15 minutes at speed 6 at 70°C. Strain the mixture through a fine sieve and cheesecloth.
For the parsley cappuccino
Add the smoked butter and other ingredients to the strained parsley sauce and emulsify to create the cappuccino. Cook the mixed risotto pasta for about 9 minutes with ham broth, crushed salt and pepper and a little potato cream. When ready, add stravecchio di bruna alpina cheese and garlic oil.
Volta del Fuenti
S.S. 163 Amalfitana km 47+300 Vietri sul Mare – 84019 Salerno
Phone +39 351 001 0654
