Potato cake, also known as gattò, is perfect for all seasons.

There are foods that are great to eat in every season, whether hot or cold, fried or baked rather than boiled. This is the case with the potato, the quintessential tuber, perfect for making a delicious potato tart. The potato tart can be a beautiful appetizer, an ideal side dish for a main course, and in its more substantial versions, even a single dish to enjoy at the table. What is commonly referred to in Italy as potato pie, or gateau di patate, is also known by the French term Gateau or the Italianized form Gattò. Discover with us at Spaghetti e Mandolino the history of the potato tart and some delicious recipes to impress your guests with simple but not trivial dishes.

Potato tart: the curious history of this dish

The potato tart is a baked potato pie made with potatoes, eggs, ham, and cheese, and is very easy to prepare. It is a typical preparation of Campanian cuisine, and the origins of its name, Gattò, are linked to the history of the city of Naples.

According to tradition, the gattò was prepared for the first time in 1768 on the occasion of the wedding between Archduchess Maria Carolina of Austria and Ferdinand IV of Bourbon. The future queen of Naples called for chefs from France: the so-called monsieurs – “monzù” in Neapolitan dialect – to whom she entrusted the cooking; it was these chefs who proposed a potato tart to the guests, created specifically for the royal banquet.

The gattò is therefore, in every respect, a dish created in Naples, with typical ingredients of Campanian cuisine.

The name of the dish was derived from the French term “gâteau,” used to refer to any sweet or savory cake, and “adapted” to the Neapolitan dialect. However, unlike the French “gâteau,” “gattò” refers only and exclusively to the savory potato pie.

How is a good potato pie prepared?

It's easy to say potato tart, but how do you make a good pie? What are the secrets to achieving a spectacular dish? Let's try to find out.

Let's start with the potatoes: they must be potatoes with a low starch content. This needs to be removed as much as possible, so rinse them in cold water multiple times to eliminate the starch.

If the potatoes are still a bit watery after boiling, place them in the oven at a low temperature (80°C) for ten minutes to dry them out.

Regarding the ingredients, it's important to have a clear idea of the result you want to achieve. If the idea is to make a curious and innovative potato pie, then you should not hold back; there's room for any ingredient. But if the idea is to try to make a potato gateau as similar as possible to the original Neapolitan recipe, then let's immediately banish hot dogs, mortadella, and various cheeses. In the gattò, you should only use Neapolitan salami, and at most some cooked ham to balance the flavors. The only dairy allowed is provola!

To achieve an enviable cooking, with a delicious crust and a soft, rich filling, the prepared potato tart needs to rest in the refrigerator for a few hours before being baked. This step is essential because it helps to restore equilibrium and the mixture tends to firm up.

The container used is also crucial. Generally, you can use a clay pot or a non-stick pan with high sides. This allows you to have a nice slice of cake to serve to guests. In Naples, it is baked in the famous “ruoto,” a circular container with high sides of about 7 cm.

Be careful with the use of milk; it should be added in small doses. The final mixture should be soft but not runny. Finally, pay attention to the salt; it should be added carefully as often cured meats and cheeses provide a significant amount of salt.

Potato tart: the Neapolitan gateau recipe

Quantities for a mold of 20 – 22 cm

1 kg of potatoes

2 eggs

50 gr of grated cheese

50 gr of whole milk

200 gr of fresh smoked provola (or smoked scamorza)

150 gr of diced cooked ham

Salt, pepper, butter, breadcrumbs to taste

First, weigh the potatoes with the skin on, rinse them, and place them in a pot full of water. Boil them with the skin for about 30 minutes or until softened. To check their consistency, use the tines of a fork. Once peeled, use a potato masher to create the puree in a bowl. After mashing all the potatoes, stir them and allow them to cool for a few minutes.

Now add the eggs, followed by the grated cheese, milk, salt, and pepper. Mix with a wooden spoon. Stir well until you get a smooth, lump-free mixture.

Add the diced provola (or scamorza) and cooked ham to the potato mixture. Stir with the wooden spoon to combine everything. Grease a baking dish and sprinkle it with breadcrumbs.

Decide whether to let the mixture rest for a couple of hours in the fridge or to continue by pouring everything into the mold, smoothing it out with the help of a spoon. Finally, sprinkle the surface with butter flakes and breadcrumbs.

Bake for 50 minutes at 180°C, giving a final grill blast (about 5 minutes) to form the upper crust, and it's done. The ideal time to enjoy the potato tart is when it becomes warm, about an hour after its preparation, but nothing prevents you from eating it hot if you're hungry!

Francesco Scuderi