Smashed Tagliatelle with Potatoes, Pancetta, and Chickpeas

With

Silvia Colloca

Snapped tagliatelle cooked through with potatoes, pancetta and chickpeas. Cucina povera.

SERVES

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Smashed Tagliatelle with Potatoes, Pancetta, and Chickpeas

About this recipe

Silvia Colloca's tagliatelle snapped into short, irregular lengths and cooked through with potatoes, pancetta and chickpeas in a starchy broth. The Italian cucina povera of using everything together in one pot. Rustic, filling, the kind of pasta that needs nothing else on the table.

This sits in the broader Italian pasta-e-fagioli tradition where the pasta cooks directly in the bean broth, releasing its starch into the liquid and binding the whole dish together. The Calabrian variation (pasta e ceci, pasta with chickpeas) is the regional version that this dish draws from; the addition of potato and pancetta pushes it slightly north into Lazio and Umbria.

Snapping the tagliatelle by hand into irregular short lengths (rather than buying short pasta or cutting it neatly) is the cucina povera move that defines the dish. The uneven pieces cook at slightly different rates, giving the bowl a textural variety that uniform commercial short pasta can't match. The broken edges also release more starch into the broth than smooth cut ends.

D'Orsogna rolled pancetta crisped in olive oil first renders its fat into the pan and forms the foundational seasoning. Shallot, celery and potato all sweat in the rendered fat; chickpeas and stock join the pot; pasta added in the final ten minutes. Reserve celery leaves for garnish at the end. Olive oil drizzled over each bowl; a generous grating of parmesan. A glass of cold Falanghina alongside.

Ingredients

- 3 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil

- 1 French shallot, finely chopped

- 1 small celery rib, thinly sliced (reserve some of the green leaves for later)

- 80 gr of D’Orsogna Rolled Pancetta, cut into thin strips

- 400 gr of potato, peeled and cut into small cubes

- ½ teaspoon chilli flakes

- 100 gr of freshly grated Floridia Chilli Pecorino & the rind

- 1x can Chickpeas

- 320 gr of San Remo Tagliatelle or ‘Pasta Mista’ (left over from various packets that have the same cooking time)

- 2-3 litres of chicken or vegetable stock + extra water if needed (enough to cover your pasta)

- 100 gr of freshly grated Floridia Chilli Pecorino

- salt and pepper for seasoning

- freshly grated lemon zest for serving.

Method

1. Boil some water in a kettle or in a pot.

2. Heat up the oil in a medium saucepan, add in your pancetta first and cook until crisp. Then add shallot, celery, and potatoes, cook over medium heat until the onion is translucent.

3. Then add in your chilli, pecorino rind and chickpeas. Add in the 1-2 cups water or stock, enough to cover the potatoes, cook for 5-6 minutes, until the potatoes are cooked through.

4. Add in your pasta and enough stock or water to submerge it by 4 cm. Stir gently and cook for 3-4 minutes or until the pasta is al dente.

5. Turn off the heat. Serve in bowls with freshly ground pepper, a little olive oil , lemon zest, granted chilli pecorino (normal pecorino is fine) and a few celery leaves.

6. Sponsors:

7. D’Orsogna – Rolled Pancetta

8. Floridia – Pecorino Chilli Wedge

9. San Remo Tagliatelle

Silvia Colloca

Silvia Colloca is a Roman-born cook, opera singer and cookbook author who has spent the last decade documenting the regional cooking of Italy from her home in Sydney. She fronts Silvia’s Masterclass, working through the country one mother-recipe at a time. Her style is patient: fresh pasta by hand, long-rise focaccia, sauces built slow.