Broken Pasta with Potatoes

This is a classic preparation in southern Italy, highlighting the fact that Italians are masters of economy. When I saw “broken pasta” on the menu at Trattoria da Nennella in Naples, I wondered why on earth broken pasta would warrant its own dish. Once I tasted it, I only wanted to make it myself. A few days later, in a small grocery store on the island of Procida, I actually found boxed broken pasta on the shelf—a variety of pasta scraps marketed just for this reason. My guess, though, is