Neapolitan savory potato cake, gatto' (or gateaux) di patate

[albiston]

Neapolitan savory potato cake, gatto' (or gateaux) di patate

Serves 12 as Hors d'oeuvreor 8 as Main Dish.

Gatto' di patate is a classic dish of Neapolitan home cooking. It is usually served as main dish along with one or more vegetable dishes, for a pasta-free meals, but can be easily used as a starter. The term "gatto' " comes from the French gateaux. It is only one example of the many influences of French on Neapolitan dialect.

• 1-1/2 kg floury potatoes, whole
  
• 50 g butter
  
• 75 g grated Parmigiano Reggiano
  
• 50 g grated aged caciocavallo or pecorino Romano
  
• 4 egg yolks
  
• 2 egg whites
  
• 1 T finely chopped basil
  
• 100 g salami or cooked ham (or a combination of the two), finely diced
  
• 100 g provola (i.e. smoked mozzarella), missing that any mild smoked cheese will do, diced
  
• 150 g cow milk mozzarella, diced
  
• 1 c warm milk (if needed)
  
• salt
  
• bread crumbs and butter for the cake pan
  

Boil the whole potatoes. Once done drain the water but keep the potatoes warm in their pot. Taking one potato at a time, peel and mash them. A ricer works best, but a hand masher is OK, especially if the potatoes are nicely floury.

Pre-heat your oven to 200C.

Add the following to the mashed potatoes in succession: butter, parmesan and caciocavallo (or pecorino), ham and/or salami, the egg yolks and the chopped basil. Stir well after each addition. Once everything has been added taste if the salt is OK. Usually the cheese will make the "dough" of this cake salty enough, but it's better to check twice.

Whip the egg whites and fold into the potato mixture. If the mass feels too resistant to stirring you should add a bit of warm milk. Do this carefully, a few tablespoons at a time.

Take a 25 cm round cake pan, butter it and coat with bread crumbs. spread half the potato mass at the bottom. Lay the mozzarella and provola on top and cover with the rest of the potatoes, spreading them to obtain a nice flat top. Dust the top with bread crumbs and place a few tiny pieces of butter on top.

Bake for 30-40 minutes in the pre-heated oven, until the breadcrumbs on the top start to brown.

Wait at least 30 minutes before serving for the cake to firm up while cooling, while the cheese remains melted.

I like it even better after a few hours, once it reaches room temperature. No more melted mozzarella but the flavours will have had time to blend better.

Keywords: Potatoes, Italian

( RG1153 )