Paccheri?!

For anyone who is wondering what are paccheri these are pasta shapes similar to cannelloni but half their size. They can be stuffed with several types of filling or served with seafood sauces or chunky meat sauces. The following recipe is one of the most traditional for paccheri.

Paccheri ricotta & basil

[caption id=”attachment_522" align=”aligncenter” width=”500" caption=”Paccheri filled with ricotta & basil”]

[/caption]

Ingredients for 4 persons:

• 500g fresh paccheri (available at local supermarkets — can be substituted by dried ones)
• 2 cans tomato sauce
• 2 garlic cloves
• 700g ricotta
• 1 glass fresh milk
• bunch of fresh basil
• 50g grated parmesan
• olive oil
• salt & pepper

Boil the paccheri for half of the time indicated on the packet. When ready, drain and pass them under cold water so that you stop them from continuing to cook. In a saucepan, prepare the tomato sauce by frying the garlic clove, remove it when brown and add the tomato sauce. Leave to simmer for around 20 minutes. Add some salt & pepper.

In the meantime, place the ricotta in a bowl, add the chopped basil leaves, pour some milk until the mixture is creamy but not watery. Season with salt & pepper.

Start filling the paccheri and place them in one layer in a large oven proof dish covered with baking paper. Top up with the tomato sauce and scatter the grated parmesan on top. Place in a pre-heated oven of 180 degrees celsius and cook for 20 minutes.