Baked Paccheri: The Delicious Main Course of Tradition.
Baked paccheri is a main course simple in its essence but incredibly rich in flavor.
They perfectly demonstrate how pasta, when treated with care and love, can transform into a culinary embrace capable of warming even the most ordinary days.
Paccheri, that generous and tubular format typical of the Campanian tradition, are the absolute protagonists of this preparation.
Thanks to their large shape, they welcome the seasoning in an enveloping way, ensuring an explosion of flavor in every bite.
Whether it’s a Sunday lunch with family or a special dinner, this recipe is a guarantee of success.
How to cook paccheri: secrets for perfect cooking.
To achieve an impeccable result, there are two schools of thought on handling the pasta:
The quick blanching: You can decide to boil the paccheri in salted water for about 3-4 minutes. Once drained (very al dente!), they are stuffed and baked. This method guarantees a uniform texture.
The “raw” cooking: alternatively, paccheri can be stuffed directly raw.
In this case, the cooking will be longer and we must ensure that the sauce is more liquid than usual.
It is crucial that there is enough moisture at the base of the baking dish to prevent the pasta from becoming too dry or hard.
Why make this recipe?
I must admit that when I prepared the baked gratin paccheri for the first time, I didn’t believe it could be so successful.
Instead, my children and husband enjoyed it immensely, immediately asking for seconds!
It’s the classic dish that everyone agrees on, from the youngest to the most discerning palates.
Read the complete recipe below, gather the ingredients, and get to work immediately to impress your guests!
Approximately 800 kcal per person
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Medium
- Preparation time: 1 Hour
- Portions: 3 People
- Cooking methods: Boiling, Electric Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All Seasons
Ingredients to Prepare Baked Paccheri
- 10.5 oz paccheri (dry)
- 24.7 oz peeled tomatoes
- 17.6 oz mixed ground meat (veal and pork)
- to taste nutmeg
- 1 onion (medium)
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- to taste salt
- 3 tbsp béchamel
- 2.1 oz grated parmesan cheese
Tools
- 1 Baking Tray Non-stick Baking Tray
Preparation of Baked Paccheri
First, prepare the sauce by sautéing half a chopped onion with the oil.
After a few minutes, add the tomato passed through the food mill, adjust salt, and cook on low heat, stirring occasionally.
In a pan, put the remaining chopped onion and a little oil, sauté, then add the ground meat and cook until it turns gray.
While cooking the meat, add nutmeg, salt, and as soon as any cooking liquids have evaporated, add a small ladle of tomato sauce taken from the sauce that’s cooking and finish cooking the meat.
The meat should remain quite dry but creamy, so as not to have problems stuffing the pasta.
Once cooking is complete, put 3 tablespoons of béchamel in the sauce with the meat and mix well.
Bring a pot of water to a boil, when it boils, add the pasta and cook for 4 minutes, drain and rinse under cold water.
Take a baking dish, put the ready sauce on the base, add a little water, then take each pacchero, fill it with the ragù, and place it vertically in the dish.
When the dish is complete, put the sauce on the surface, cover with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese.
Cover with aluminum foil and bake for at least 45 minutes, when the cooking is almost finished, uncover and cook for another 10 minutes or until slightly browned on the surface.
