THE DISH I COME HOME TO: RAFFAELE SANTOMASO, PASTA AND BEANS WITH PORK RIND

Raffaele Santomaso, who grew up in the small hotel his family ran near the archaeological site of Paestum, associates the dish with his grandmother, who would make it in winter with offcuts she herself helped to prepare.

“My grandmother often made this dish”, the Le Sirenuse sous-chef recalls. “She raised pigs in the little smallholding she owned near our hotel. You can make pasta e fagioli entirely without meat, but as my nonna knew I didn't particularly like beans, she would make me this richer version with pork rind, which I loved, as a way of getting me to eat the beans as well. We would also eat her chicken broth, and she worked wonders with fresh eggs from the farm. She was part of a tradition of small-scale home farming that is dying out today”.

“Traditionally”, Raffaele continues, “a lot of country families in Campania would own chickens and a few pigs. One would be selected each year and slaughtered towards the end of December or early in January, because the various sausages and salamis made from it keep better in cold weather. The whole family would gather for the big day, there was something festive about it, it was like a second Christmas. My dad and his three brothers would work on the butchery, while their four wives and my grandmother busied themselves making lunch, and we kids played around on the farm. Nonna used every part of the pigs she slaughtered, it was true nose-to-tail eating. She's no longer with us unfortunately, but every time I make this dish I think of her”.

The challenge for those making this dish outside of Italy will be finding a butcher who can supply pork rind sheets, preferably from organically fed and pasture-raised pigs. It's the layer of fat attached to the skin that gives the dish much of its sapid flavour, so make sure this is included.

First, make a pork rind roulé (which Neapolitans call la braciola di cotenna) by salting the pork rind on one side, sprinkling it all over with two-thirds of the parsley, rolling it up and securing with twine. You will then need to pre-cook this pork rind roll for an hour in boiling water (some also add a glass of white wine).

Next, place the well-washed borlotti beans in a pan with 1.5 litres (6 cups) of cold water with the celery, carrot and onion (either whole or chopped into two or three large pieces) and bring to a rolling boil. As soon as the water is hot, add the pork rind roulé. After 50 minutes, remove the onion, celery and carrot. Take out the pork rind too, cut the roll in half, keep one half aside and return the other to the pan of boiling water. At this point, add the pasta, making a note of the cooking time as indicated on the packet.

Cut the half of the pork rind roll you removed into discs with which you will garnish the dish, judging the thickness so you end up with around four per serving.

The cooking water will by now have reduced into a broth, which should be creamy, neither too thin nor too thick. When the pasta is ready, add the grated parmesan and the rest of the parsley and stir to amalgamate, then salt and pepper to taste. Serve in bowls with the pork roll discs incorporated.

Photos © Roberto Salomone