Gattò / Potato, Ham and Cheese Bake (Naples)

June 21, 2022

The word gattò brings me back to Rome, to the delightful meetings, conversations, chats, warm words and lots of laughter with Diana. Occasionally we also discussed food and Diana’s love for Naples and southern Italy, which is exactly how I was introduced to this typical Neapolitan dish for the first time.

With gattò, a potato-ham-cheese bake, you can be very creative and switch certain ingredients around like salami, cooked or cured ham*, and the cheese** for the filling. Although, I really recommend to use a smoked cheese here. The constants on the other hand are pureed potatoes enriched with butter, parmesan and eggs, in other words all the goodness that there is. 

A prime example of an Italian comfort food at its best.

Below is my recipe for the gattò which I’ve made recently.

The portion is rather generous but you can enjoy it the following day, in fact, it’s very often eaten cold. Moreover, it’s a dream picnic food.

For the gattò

Serves 6-8:

  • 1200-1400 g of potatoes, skin on, preferably of similar size
  • 4 eggs
  • 100 g of butter (divided into 80g and 20 g portions)
  • about 150g of cured ham, chopped* 
  • about 200 g of a diced or sliced smoked provolone cheese** for the filling (if using mozzarella, slice it a few hours earlier and leave in a small colander to drain excess water)
  • 100 g of grated parmesan
  • 2-4 tablespoon of milk, full fat
  • a small handful of breadcrumbs
  • salt 
  • pepper
  • grated nutmeg (optional)
  • some butter and breadcrumbs for the baking dish

Place the washed potatoes in a large pot, cover with cold water, add some salt and bring to the boil.

Simmer the potatoes with with the lid on until tender, check if they are ready with a small sharp knife.

Drain and let them cool down until you are able to handle them in your hands.

In the meantime preheat the oven to 180 C (160 C fan assisted oven). 

Grease thoroughly with butter a ovenproof dish (I used a round dish 24 cm in diameter and 6 cm tall) and dust very well with breadcrumbs.

Peel the potatoes (preferable still slightly warm) and pass them through a ricer or food mill (or mash in a large bowl or pot).

Add 80 g of cubed butter and stir until it melts and forms a homogenous mass with the potatoes.

Add the beaten eggs, milk, parmesan and chopped ham. Season well with the salt, pepper and some nutmeg if using. Stir everything until well combined. 

Use half of the potatoes dough and spread it evenly on the bottom of the dish pressing it gently with the back of a spoon.

Now cover with the smoked cheese and then with the rest of the potato mixture. Even out the surface, sprinkle the top with the breadcrumbs and dot around with little pieces of butter (20 g).

Bake in the preheated oven for about 40-45 minutes. The surface should turn crispy and golden in colour. 

Let the gattò to cool down for 20 minutes or so before slicing and serving. It is wonderful with a crunchy green leaf salad.