Today I prepared a Christmas pandoro of baked paccheri pasta rich and dripping with creamy tomato sauce scented with basil, a true gourmet and appetizing first course!
Baked pasta is the classic Sunday dish and the party’s first course whether we enjoy it with family or it is the main dish of a menu prepared for Christmas Eve or the Christmas lunch.
Baked pasta is also that first course that we can enrich with many elements like cheeses, vegetables, béchamel sauce or classic Bolognese sauce or a boscaiola sauce… in short, we can really make it an appetizing and incredibly delicious first course!
The savory pandoro of pasta like paccheri baked can also be an excellent dish to use up leftovers that are in the fridge after other delicious homemade preparations.
This first course in the shape of a pandoro is a real delight and is perfect for the festive days to also share the joy of a richly set table prepared for the celebration.
I leave you with other appetizing baked first course recipes such as:
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Medium
- Rest time: 15 Minutes
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 6
- Cooking methods: Oven, Stove
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Christmas
Ingredients for CHRISTMAS PANDORO OF BAKED PACCHERI PASTA
- 400 paccheri
- 700 g tomato sauce
- 150 g spicy sausage
- 4 hard-boiled eggs
- 2 cloves garlic
- 10 ovoline of smoked scamorza
- 200 g ricotta
- to taste basil
- to taste salt
- to taste pepper
- to taste extra virgin olive oil
- to taste grated parmesan
- to taste butter (to butter the pandoro mold)
- to taste breadcrumbs (to sprinkle on the butter in the pandoro mold)
Tools for CHRISTMAS PANDORO OF BAKED PACCHERI
#adv
- Molds
- Bowls
- Spoons
- Brushes
- Wok
- Deep Casseroles
FOR THE PREPARATION OF THE CHRISTMAS PANDORO OF BAKED PACCHERI
I prepare the tomato sauce by putting the garlic cloves in a pan or wok with a few tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil.
Once they are golden, I remove them and add the tomato passata and basil leaves, season with salt and let it gradually cook for about ten minutes.
While the tomato sauce is flavoring on the stove, I cut the hard-boiled eggs into wedges, the smoked scamorza or classic into pieces, and the spicy Napoli salami into cubes.
In a large saucepan, I cook the paccheri in salted boiling water, draining them al dente but not too raw!
In a large bowl, I put all the various ingredients for the Christmas pandoro of baked pasta: the hard-boiled eggs, Napoli salami, ricotta, and scamorza.
Once the paccheri pasta is drained al dente, I mix it with the various stuffing ingredients, stirring well to combine the flavors, and adding grated parmesan to further enhance the taste of this savory pandoro of baked paccheri pasta!
I also add the tomato sauce, saving about a cup to serve in a special sauce boat at the table during the meal or pouring it directly over the baked pandoro of paccheri when unmolded onto the serving plate as I did.
I generously butter the pandoro mold, paying attention to the sides, and then sprinkle it with breadcrumbs: all of this SHOULD in bold and underlined, help to neatly and precisely unmold the pandoro of paccheri… trust me, and CROSS YOUR FINGERS when you do it!!!
Once the mold is greased, we can pour in the paccheri pasta with hard-boiled eggs, ricotta, scamorza, spicy salami, and tomato sauce, pressing a little after filling the mold.
What you see is a savory pasta pandoro but it’s perfect for 6 people, but clearly, if your community is larger, increase the doses… in a DECORA mold like mine, you can easily go up to 550 grams of paccheri, seasoning with more ingredients, of course!
Now all that’s left is to bake at 355°F for about 35 minutes in static mode this sumptuous baked party first course.
Once cooked, let it cool for at least 10 minutes, then take the serving plate, RECITE ALL THE MANTRAS you know, and unmold, then serve at the table with more tomato sauce and basil leaves!
Bon appétit, dear friends!Annalisa
