Frittata di pasta
The Neapolitan answer to yesterday's pasta: spaghetti bound with egg and cheese, fried like an omelette, crisp on both sides. In Naples it is taken to the beach and eaten cold, with the fingers. The key is patience — the frittata cooks over low heat for 10–12 minutes a side. Over high heat the crust burns quickly while the centre stays liquid, and the whole thing collapses when you turn it.
Your own work in that: 0 min.
- Pasta 12 min
- Egg mixture 10 min
- Frying 25 min
Step by step
0 / 8 doneCook the pasta and do not rinse it
Cook the spaghetti in salted water a minute short of al dente (usually about 9 minutes — check the packet), drain and do not rinse. The starch on the surface is needed here — with the egg it is what glues the strands into one solid cake. If using yesterday's cooked pasta, skip this step.
Ingredients: 400 g spaghetti · 1 tbsp salt
Cool the pasta before the egg
Spread the pasta on a tray and cool it to lukewarm — about 10 minutes. Hot spaghetti sets the egg on contact — instead of a smooth mixture you get threads of scrambled egg coating the strands.
Ingredients: 400 g spaghetti · 1 tbsp salt
Beat the eggs with two cheeses
Beat the eggs with the parmesan, pecorino, parsley, salt and pepper. Two cheeses, not one: parmesan gives a deep, slightly sweet savouriness, pecorino saltiness and punch. With parmesan alone the frittata is correct but milder.
Ingredients: 6 pcs eggs · 100 g parmesan · 50 g pecorino · 4 tbsp parsley · 1 tsp black pepper · ½ tsp salt
Mix pasta and egg thoroughly
Pour the mixture over the pasta, add the mozzarella and salami if using, and toss with your hands for a minute, separating clumped strands. Every strand must be coated — patches without egg do not bind and the cake breaks when turned.
Ingredients: 6 pcs eggs · 100 g parmesan · 50 g pecorino · 4 tbsp parsley · 1 tsp black pepper · ½ tsp salt
Toss by hand — every strand has to be coated in egg.Heat the pan and press the mixture flat
Heat 3 tablespoons of oil over medium heat in a 26–28 cm pan (non-stick is best), add the mixture and press it flat with a spatula. The pressing matters: a compacted cake holds together, a loosely heaped one falls apart at the first attempt to flip it.
Ingredients: 150 g mozzarella · 80 g salami · 4 tbsp olive oil
Press it down — a compact cake survives the flip.Fry 12 minutes over low heat
Cook 12 minutes over low heat, uncovered. Shake the pan — a set frittata slides as one piece. High heat gives a burnt crust over a raw liquid centre.
Ingredients: 150 g mozzarella · 80 g salami · 4 tbsp olive oil
Turn it using a plate
Cover the pan with a flat plate wider than the pan and invert the whole thing (hold the pan with an oven glove), add the last tablespoon of oil to the pan, then slide the frittata back in, browned side up. Hold the plate firmly — the one risky moment in the recipe.
Ingredients: 150 g mozzarella · 80 g salami · 4 tbsp olive oil
A plate wider than the pan — the one risky moment.Cook the other side and cool
Fry the second side 10 minutes, until golden too. Slide onto a board and cool at least 10 minutes before cutting — hot it crumbles, warm it cuts into clean wedges.
Ingredients: 150 g mozzarella · 80 g salami · 4 tbsp olive oil
Before you start
Yesterday's pasta is better
This dish was born of leftovers and leftovers genuinely work better: cooled pasta is stiffer, less watery and binds with the egg more readily. Pasta with tomato sauce works too — the frittata comes out moister but fuller in flavour.
Eaten cold
In Naples frittata di pasta is beach and travel food — wrapped in paper and eaten cold with the fingers. Cold, it holds its shape better and is easy to cut.
Storing
Once cooled, keep the frittata in the fridge, tightly wrapped, for 2–3 days. For the beach or a journey, pack it in a cool bag and eat it within a few hours — it is made with eggs and cheese, so it should not sit in the warm for long. Do not microwave it — the pasta turns rubbery. For it warm, put it back in a dry pan for 3 minutes a side.
