“Eat in Naples and then die” goes the popular saying. That’s true: it’s not worth living if you haven’t eaten in Naples at least once. And there is no truer truth when talking about pasta omelettes. Fried and Love. An ancient recovered dish, it has become a symbol of a city and one of the most loved “street foods” of all time. I still remember my first frittatina (pasta’s omelette) on a sunny morning in a cold, cold winter in Split Naples…
And here we are, Foodmetender tries its hand at this undertaking, with Lolly’s DOC recipe, aka Maria Laura Pignata, taken from her blog http://www.partenopeat.it/ which I highly recommend you read and re-read. The recipes are amazing and she is a very pleasant person. And thanks to Saretta, who made me discover it, and with whom we shared wonderful hours preparing them together.
Ingredients
- 400 g bucatini pasta
- 150 g peas
- 1 small onion
- 150 g diced cooked ham
- 2 tablespoons of parmesan cheese
- Salt and Pepper To Taste.
- seeds oil for frying 400
béchamel
- 600 ml fresh milk
- 60 g butter
- 60 g “00” flour
- nutmeg to taste
- Salt to taste.
Beschamel: boil the milk with nutmeg and a pinch of salt. In a separate saucepan, melt the butter and add the flour and whisk them together until they are perfectly blended. At this point, little by little, add the milk, mixing very well with the whisk as you pour in the liquid part, to avoid lumps. Once the milk has run out, bring to the boil, stirring constantly with the whisk, until the béchamel is smooth and full-bodied. Transfer it to a small bowl and let it cool.
Peas: finely chop a small onion and cook it over low heat with a knob of butter and a pinch of salt. Add the peas, mix and barely cover with water. Cook for about 15/20 minutes.
Pasta: Boil the pasta in plenty of salted water and drain well “al dente”.
In a large bowl, combine the cooked pasta, the béchamel, the peas, the diced ham, the parmesan and if it is very dry, a touch of milk (just to slightly soften the mixture which will then have to be rolled).
Assembly: Roll up the spaghetti nests with the help of a ladle and a fork and place them in a round pastry cutter or finish shaping them with your hands until you obtain small omelettes 6-8 cm in diameter. Place the well-compacted nests on a plate and place them in the fridge for a few hours to harden.
Breading: beat two eggs with a pinch of salt and pepper. Heat some seeds oil in a saucepan and in the meantime bread the omelettes by passing them first in the egg and then in the breadcrumbs (if you want you can also chop up some crackers or use a corn-based breadcrumbs and make a more crunchy and particular breading ).
Fry them for a few minutes in boiling oil until they are golden brown on both sides and drain them on absorbent paper. Dry them well and salt them only before serving.
To be eaten lukewarm (it is amazing!).
ps – The Frittatine is a recovery dish, so if you have leftover pasta with becahmel or pasta and peas, pasta with mushrooms and so on, you can reuse the leftover and add a very firm becahmel and make omelettes.
ps- 2 – If in Naples Fried is Love, these Frittatine were an opportunity for us to be together among friends…
