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It's happened to my family and I countless times. We're all back home from a long day at work and school. We have no idea what to make for dinner.ÌýÌýExcept for a celery stalk and a couple of carrots, there's not much in the fridge. As for the pantry, there are a handful of potatoes and a couple of onions. Oh, and of course, in true ½ûÂþÌìÌà fashion, lots of half-empty pasta packets.ÌýÌýThose ingredients, however, are just what's required for making a last resort dish common to many households across the country:Ìýpasta e patateÌýor pasta and potatoes.

Now, I've often found myself wearily making this bland-soundingÌýsalvacena(meaning 'dinner saver') on many a cold, dark evening, cursing myself for not being more organised with my food shopping the day before. Yet, this double-starched dish is anything but boring. The comfortingly warm broth and its subtle flavour invariably beckon my husband and daughter to come back for second and third helpings and bring a satisfied smile to their faces. It's probably one of my favourite things to cook and I must confess that I almost look forward to those occasions when fridge and pantry raiding will be called for come dinner time.

Pasta e patate takes many different forms across ½ûÂþÌìÌà households. Some home cooks prefer a denser, thicker soup where the potatoes almost fall apart with the addition of minimal stock or water. Others, prefer a broth with a more watery consistency and for the potatoes to remain intact. The liquid that's added can be a vegetable or meat-based stock. In the absence of these, salted boiling water will suffice. The basic soffritto of minced onion, celery and carrot can also be aromatised or enrichened with some minced parsley or rosemary, diced pancetta or guanciale. Garlic may or may not appear in different recipes too. And, in the region of Campania, it's not uncommon for locals to enliven matters even more by adding some tomato and chopped provola cheese to the mix. In this case, the result is not a brothy minestra or soup but a distinctly rich plateful of cheese-encased pasta. Comfort food at its stringy finest!

The pasta used can vary too. The authors ofÌýSauces and Shapes,Ìýfood historian Oretta Zanini de Vita and Rome-based translator Maureen B. Fant, have a pasta and potatoes recipe with the soupier, watery consistency I prefer in their wonderful cookbook and they recommendÌý±ç³Ü²¹»å°ù³Ü³¦³¦¾±,Ìýsquare-shaped egg noodles, as well asÌý³Ù³Ü²ú±ð³Ù³Ù¾±Ìýand theÌýspaghetti spezzatiÌý(broken spaghetti) pictured. If you happen to makeÌý³Ù²¹²µ±ô¾±²¹³Ù±ð±ô±ô±ðÌýone day, you couldÌýÌýalso do as Oretta's childhood mentor Sister Attilia taught her, and reserve the offcuts from making this pasta for your bubbling pot of potato soup at dinnertime.

A final note regarding the recipe below, which is based on Oretta and Maureen's. My preference is for a slightly more watery soup, and my directions below reflect this. If you'd prefer a denser result though, you should opt for a smaller amount of stock (no more than 1.2 litres) and avoid covering your soup with a lid while it simmers away. Cooking theÌýÌýpotatoes until they fall apart will also thicken your soup considerably. And, given that there'll be less liquid to cook your pasta of choice directly in the soup, you're best off bringing another pot of salted water to boil for cooking thoseÌý±ç³Ü²¹»å°ù³Ü³¦³¦¾±Ìýor strands of brokenÌý²õ±è²¹²µ³ó±ð³Ù³Ù¾±Ìý³Ù´ÇÌýal denteÌýperfection. When cooked through, simply take a slotted spoon and transfer the pasta to the pot containing the dense potato broth.

Ingredients (serves 4 as a starter)