I love pasta seasoned with sometimes unusual ingredients, that’s why I wanted to try this combination and cook these Stuffed Paccheri with Pumpkin and Bacon. It’s a very tasty first course, but remember to start well in advance, as filling the paccheri is a slightly long process.

Difficulty: Easy
Cost: Cheap
Preparation time: 40 Minutes
Portions: 4/5 servings
Cooking methods: Oven
Cuisine: Italian

Ingredients

10.58 oz paccheri
2.2 lbs pumpkin (already cleaned)
7.05 oz smoked bacon (in small cubes)
2 mozzarella (4.4 oz each)
5 pinches fine salt
1 can canned cannellini beans (8.8 oz drained can)
as needed olive oil
3 tsp coarse salt
4 tbsps Parmigiano Reggiano DOP (grated)

Preparation

Clean the pumpkin, remove the skin, seeds, and cut it into slightly small cubes.
Put a bit of olive oil in a large pan, add the pumpkin and the cannellini beans.
Add salt, cook with the lid on for about 20 minutes until the pumpkin can be mashed with a fork. Do not add water; the mixture should be quite dry.
At this point, put everything in a mixer and run it until the pumpkin is smooth and lump-free.
Sauté the bacon cubes in a small pan for a few minutes until golden.
Cut the mozzarella into rather small cubes.
Take a large pot with plenty of water, as soon as it boils, add 3 tsp of coarse salt and the paccheri. Drain them with a colander 3 minutes before the cooking time indicated on the package. Line a 12×9 inch baking tray with parchment paper and place the paccheri upright vertically. Start filling them with two teaspoons of pumpkin mixture.
Now add a layer of sautéed bacon and a layer of mozzarella on top.
Cover it all with a teaspoon of pumpkin cream.
Sprinkle with plenty of grated parmesan. Bake for about 10 minutes at 356°F, just enough time to melt the mozzarella and brown the paccheri on top.