The potato Gateau is a typical dish of Neapolitan cuisine. It is a savory pie (made with potatoes, of course!), very tasty and can easily be served as a single dish. Gateau is a French word, meaning cake, which in Italian has come to mean a baked dish. In reality, here in Italy, no one pronounces the word gateau in the French way; the term has been Italianized to gattò and, to be honest, in Campania in our region, it is often called "pizz' e patan" or "potato pizza." Anyway, whether you call it gateau, gattò, sformato, or potato pizza, what matters to us here is its preparation.There are many variations of this recipe and often no one knows the original potato gateau recipe. Always going back to our origins, since no one else makes gattò like they do in Naples, we decided to offer you a traditional recipe for this delicacy, a recipe that comes directly from the ancient wisdom of our grandmothers.Before starting, however, we want to give you two small tips. The first is that the potatoes must be old because they contain more starch. The second, more than a tip, is an imperative: you can substitute Neapolitan salami with Milanese salami, with ham, with soppressata, but absolutely do not use frankfurters, for us it is a true heresy!Well, now we can start with the original potato gateau recipe
Ingredients for 6 people
2kg potatoes (preferably old)
400g buffalo mozzarella
300g Neapolitan Salami cut into strips
3 eggs
200g butter
1 glass of milk
150g grated Parmesan cheese
100g breadcrumbs
salt to taste
pepper to taste
Preparation
The first thing you need to do is boil the potatoes. The potatoes should be boiled strictly with their skins on so they absorb less water. Meanwhile, squeeze the mozzarella a bit to remove some of the milk and cut it into small cubes. Check the potatoes for doneness by piercing them with a toothpick; if it goes in easily, they are ready, and at this point you can peel them (before they cool down!!!) and mash them with a potato masher. Then, put the mashed potatoes in a bowl, add the butter, and start mixing everything with your hands, making sure the butter melts well. Soften the mixture by adding the three eggs and the glass of milk, add the Parmesan cheese and a handful of buffalo mozzarella pieces. Season the mixture with salt and pepper. Grease a baking dish and sprinkle the bottom with breadcrumbs and small pieces of butter. At this point, pour half of the prepared potato mixture into the dish, add the remaining mozzarella and salami to this first layer, and pour the rest of the mixture over it. Before putting the dish in the oven, sprinkle generously with breadcrumbs, and you're done! Bake in a preheated oven at 180° for about an hour. When the surface of your gattò is nicely golden, you can take it out of the oven. Wait for it to cool and Enjoy your meal!