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Scarpariello, a Neapolitan recipe
Scarpariello is an age-old Neapolitan dish. The word comes from “scarparo”, which in dialect means "cobbler", a trade that many practised in Naples, especially in the Quartieri Spagnoli (Spanish Quarters).
by Alessia Giannino
It's a very simple and quick recipe, born precisely to allow cobblers to prepare a fast pasta dish during their lunch break. The two main ingredients are tomato sauce and cheese.
In fact, leftover tomato sauce from Sunday was usually used, along with the cheese that many customers would use to settle their bill when they had no money. Most of them were farmers, used to paying for their goods with produce from the land in times of financial hardship.
Over time, however, what was once a recipe born to use up leftovers and save time became one of the traditional dishes still found today in Neapolitan cuisine.
Recipe
Ingredients
- Pasta
- Lard or Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Garlic
- Cherry tomatoes or tinned peeled tomatoes
- Parmesan and pecorino cheese
- Chilli pepper
Method
The old-fashioned recipe calls for chopped garlic to be fried gently in oil or lard. Then the sauce is added, which, as we mentioned earlier, used to be the leftover Sunday ragù, but is now replaced by cherry tomatoes or tinned peeled tomatoes.
After filling a pot with water, you wait for it to come to the boil, add the pasta and drain it a couple of minutes before the end of cooking time, so that it finishes cooking together with the sauce, adding the other two ingredients: Parmesan and pecorino cheese.
At this point, it can all be served at the table, adding a few basil leaves and chilli pepper as a finishing touch.
Posted in:
Neapolitan food
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