Paccheri is tube shaped pasta from the Puglia region, ideal for stuffing with popular fillings like spinach and ricotta. Unlike canneloni, paccheri tubes are short enough to arrange on their cut sides (on a bed of sauce), resulting in a beautiful repetitive visual result. This is an unusual yet crowd pleasing pasta bake that can be assembled ahead and baked on demand.
Ingredients: (serves 4-5)
For the sauce
30 ml (2 Tbsp) olive oil
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped/grated
2 cans whole Italian tomatoes, pureed
½ cup vegetable stock (or chicken stock)
10 ml (2 tsp) sugar
salt & pepper, to taste
60 ml (¼ cup) fresh cream (optional)
For the filling
15 ml (1 Tbsp) olive oil
500 g swiss chard spinach, rinsed
500 g ricotta cheese
1 cup mozzarella cheese, roughly grated (about 100 g)
¾ cup parmesan cheese, finely grated (about 50 g)
a pinch ground nutmeg
salt & pepper, to taste
For assembling
about 350 g paccheri pasta
salted water, for cooking
½ cup mozzarella cheese, roughly grated
a handful basil leaves (optional)
Method:
Prepare the sauce: in a medium pot, heat the oil and fry the garlic until fragrant. Add the tomatoes, stock and sugar, then season with salt & pepper and bring to a simmer.
Optionally add the cream. Simmer over low heat for 10 minutes, stirring now and then, then set aside.
Prepare the filling: In a large pot, heat the oil, add the spinach and put a lid on. Steam for 5 minutes, then stir. Cover and cook for another few minutes until the spinach has just wilted then remove from the heat and cool slightly. Squeeze any excess water from the spinach then transfer to a food processer along with the ricotta, mozzarella, parmesan and nutmeg. Season generously with salt & pepper, then pulse to blend to a relatively coarse filling (not too smooth). Taste and adjust seasoning if needed. Transfer the filling to a piping bag with nozzle, the set aside.
To assemble: Cook the pasta in rapidly boiling salted water for 12 minutes, then drain and arrange with cut sides down on a plate (ready to be filled). Pipe the filling into each tube. Preheat the oven to 180 C. Using a 25-26cm wide low casserole, add the prepared sauce. Arrange the stuffed pasta tubes evenly, then scatter with mozzarella. Bake for about 40 minutes until golden brown on the edges and bubbling. Serve warm, optionally scattered with fresh basil.
