Ingredients:

2 lbs yellow potatoes, peeled

10 Oz mixed pasta (see tips)

4 Oz diced pancetta (or prosciutto)

1 small onion

1 celery stalk

2 carrots

1 TBSP tomato paste

1 TBSP grated Parmesan cheese

1 TBSP grated Romano cheese

6 Oz Provola Affumicata (smoked, aged mozzarella), grated

4 TBSPs olive oil

1 qt vegetable broth

1 c hot water

Fresh rosemary sprig, salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Dice peeled potatoes into 1” chunks.

Place in a bowl filled with water and set aside.

Clean and chop onion, celery and carrots.

Place olive oil in a sauce pot over medium heat.

When oil is warm, add diced pancetta.

Stir for a couple minutes then add chopped veggies.

Sauté for about 5 minutes or until wilted, stirring often to avoid sticking.

Add tomato paste and drained potatoes.

Stir continuously for a couple minutes.

Add vegetable broth and stir well.

Add rosemary sprig and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Be careful with salt since both pancetta and cheeses will add their own salt to the dish.

Cover and let it come to a boil, stirring when needed.

Reduce flame to a simmer and let the potatoes cook for about 20 minutes, stirring often.

The potatoes are done when you insert a fork in one of the chunks and it penetrates easily.

Remove rosemary sprig.

Remove a few potato chunks and squish with fork to mash.

Place back in pot.

Add 1 cup hot water.

When it reaches a simmer again, add pasta and stir well.

Cover and cook for about 10 to 12 minutes, stirring often.

Keep an eye on the liquids and add a little more water if needed.

Pasta should not become mushy but remain Al dente.

When pasta is of desired consistency, shut off heat.

Carefully add all the grated cheeses and stir well to allow cheeses to melt.

Cover and rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Serve with fresh pepper and a twirl of extra virgin olive oil on top of each bowl.

Serves 4-6.

TIPS:

This dish originated in Naples where provola is abundant. Provola is a dried mozzarella and it comes both smoked or non. It is preferable for this dish because provola strings like mozzarella when melted. If you cannot find provola, used smoked mozzarella. If your family does not like the smoky flavor, use provolone from the deli counter. Just ask for a 6 Oz chunk and grate it at home.

Some of the rosemary leaves will come off the sprigs when cooking, if you don’t want the leaves in the pasta dish, place the rosemary in a piece of cheesecloth and tie top with kitchen twine.

The original recipe calls for mixed pasta, the reason being that people often had a little bit of leftover dry pasta from different packages. It was often used in soups because nothing was ever wasted. It is now commonly sold in 1 lb packages but, if you can’t find it, just use any small to medium pasta.

To make this dish vegetarian, just omit the pancetta.