Chef's pick
Frittata di maccheroni with peas and provola
I did not invent frittata di maccheroni. I discovered it the way almost everybody discovers it, which is by being too tired to think of anything else.
There was about a third of a bowl of leftover pasta in the fridge, dressed in tomato sauce, from the night before. There were four eggs. It was 21:00 and I was not going out. I beat the eggs, tipped the cold pasta into them, poured the lot into an oiled pan and cooked it like a frittata, because I could not work out what else to do with it.
What came out was better than the pasta had been the first time, and I sat there eating it feeling faintly annoyed about that.
It turns out to be a real and very old Neapolitan dish, called frittata di maccheroni, and Neapolitans have been making it for so long that they now cook pasta specifically in order to have leftovers. It is picnic food, beach food and above all train food: the thing that goes into a bag when somebody is travelling and does not intend to buy lunch.
The reason it works is that pasta and egg both set. What you get is not a soft frittata with pasta in it, it is a dense cake with a crust on the top and the bottom, firm enough to cut into wedges, and every strand of pasta at the surface goes crisp. Those crisp bits are the reason to make it on purpose rather than only when there is something to use up.
For a lunchbox it is very close to perfect. It does not leak, it does not go soggy, it needs no reheating and it is better at room temperature than hot.
Use cold pasta. Warm pasta steams in the eggs and will not set.
- Prep 10 min
- Cook 20 min
- Serves 2
- Cost €
Method
- 1
Beat the eggs with the parmigiano, parsley, salt and a lot of black pepper. Season it more heavily than feels right, because the pasta inside is bland.
3 min
- 2
Fold in the cold pasta, the peas and the cubed provola. Turn it over until every strand is coated.
3 min
- 3
Heat 3 tbsp of the oil in a 24 cm non-stick pan over medium heat until it shimmers, then tip the mixture in and press it flat with a spatula.
2 min
- 4
Cook on medium-low, undisturbed, until the bottom is deep gold and the edges have set. Shake the pan: it should move as one piece.
10 min
- 5
Slide it onto a plate, put the pan upside down over it, and flip. Add the last of the oil and cook the second side until equally gold.
8 min
- 6
Cool completely before cutting. It slices cleanly cold and falls apart hot.
20 min
Variations
Leftover pasta already dressed in ragù, pesto or tomato sauce is the classic starting point and needs no extra seasoning. Add diced salami, ham or leftover sausage. Mozzarella works but releases water, so drain it hard first. For a crisper crust, finish the second side under a hot grill in an oven-safe pan. Keeps 3 days in the fridge and is the single best thing in this book to eat cold.