Valentina Expressions

What is cooking for the super bowl in your home? Do you have something simple, or are you going to surprise your family and friends with some special food? I have made something substantial with a remarkable taste that will linger in people’s memory: Stuffed and Baked Paccheri Pasta.

In Neapolitan patois (dialect from Naples, Italy), paccheri means a smack in the face. I guess the producer of this pasta made with durum semolina thought the excellent taste will smack people in the face. I think that’s the relation to the original word. The specialty I made only looks complicated, in reality is fast and really easy to make.

Filling:
Start with steaming the spinach in a pan covered with a lid and only a 1/4 of cup of water. In a large pan saute’ cubed Italian prosciutto or any ham you like with onion, garlic and ginger. Add steamed spinach, beat 2 eggs and mix them in. Add grated Parmigiano, nutmeg, piñoli if you have them, season with salt and pepper to your taste and stir well to amalgamate everything.

Sauce: I made a velouté of yellow tomatoes from my garden, but you can make your sauce from red tomatoes.

Saute’ 2 cloves of garlic in olive oil, add chopped red tomato, season with salt/pepper and let it cook for fifteen minutes until the tomatoes are soft.
Insert a boat motor (a type of blender that goes into the pan and chops food) in the sauce and blend the tomatoes until obtained a smooth sauce.
My yellow tomatoes gave me a very light sauce after I used the boat motor. To thicken it, I add the yolk of one egg and beat it vigorously with a whisk until I got a velvety smooth sauce called velouté.

Pasta: In salted and boiling water cook the paccheri al dente, drain and set aside to cool enough to handle them. With a small spoon stuff paccheri one by one, it will take 15-20 minutes, but at the end it will be worth. Align them in an oiled baking dish, add the sauce on top and around, sprinkle Parmigiano cheese all over and bake at 400˚F., uncovered until the top is golden brown. All the ingredients are already cooked, it will not take long to melt together.

I hope my friends will bring something good. My picture shows paccheri ready to bake. They were gone as soon as they came out of the oven. Buon appetito, ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

Copyright © 2014 Valentina Cirasola, All Rights Reserved

Valentina Cirasola often designs kitchen, dining areas and wine cellars. She is in love with food and cooks every day. What a better kitchen designer than the one who cooks and knows all the needs cooks have? Her deep interest in food led her as an autodidact in the studies of food in history, natural remedies, nutrition and well-being. Robert Taitano, a friend and business associate of http://www.wine-fi.com says:
“Valentina – an International Professional Interior Designer is now giving you an opportunity to redesign your palate”. Get your copy of Valentina’s books on
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