The penne with potatoes and provola, also known as Neapolitan pasta, is a more delicious variant of the classic pasta and potatoes.

There are different versions of this fabulous recipe: some include bacon, others include rind, and mine includes smoked bacon.

The commonly used pasta shape for this recipe is mixed pasta, but I preferred to use small ridged penne to better capture the sauce.

The penne with potatoes and provola is a stringy and creamy first course that will make you lick your lips! Its risotto-style cooking method allows the starch from the potatoes and pasta to create a creamy appearance.

I cooked it in my food processor Moulinex Companion x, a great ally that allows you to cook without having to stir and is excellent for preparing many recipes.

If you don’t have a cooking robot, you can easily prepare it on the stove.

Portions: 4
Cooking methods: Stove
Cuisine: Italian
Seasonality: Fall, Winter, and Spring

Ingredients

11.3 oz of ridged penne
1.1 lbs of cleaned potatoes
3.5 oz of carrots
2.1 oz of celery
1 small white onion
1 sprig of rosemary
4.2 oz of tomato sauce
8.8 oz of smoked provola
3.5 oz of smoked bacon
1.8 oz of grated Parmesan
to taste of salt
to taste of extra virgin olive oil
1 qt of water

Tools

Food Processor
Mandoline

Steps

To prepare the dish, let’s prepare the vegetables.
Peel the potatoes, wash them, and cut them into small cubes.
Cut the carrots, onion, and celery into chunks.
Finely chop the vegetables with a food processor or mixer.
If you don’t have a cooking robot, transfer the chopped vegetables to a pot, add the rosemary sprig, and extra virgin olive oil to brown over moderate heat for a few minutes, stirring.
Add the diced potatoes, stir, and let them season for a few minutes.
Incorporate the tomato sauce, cook for 2 minutes while stirring, pour in the quart of water, and let it cook for 30 minutes over low heat.
After this time, add the pasta, adjust the salt, and let it cook according to the time indicated on the package. If the potatoes seem dry, add a bit of hot water. The final appearance should be creamy, not soupy.
While the pasta is cooking, fry the smoked bacon separately in a skillet. Grate the smoked provola into julienne strips.
Two minutes before the end of cooking, add the grated Parmesan and the fried bacon.
When the pasta is cooked, turn off the heat and incorporate the provola, stir and cover with a lid to melt before serving.