Ricotta and basil filled paccheri pasta with homemade tomato sauce

Step 1

Put a pot of water on to boil for the pasta. Add salt once it starts to boil and bring to the boil again.

Step 2

Peel the garlic. Blanch the tomatoes in boiling water and peel them. Cut into smaller pieces.

Step 3

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan or skillet. Add the garlic cloves. When they start to soften add the chopped tomatoes. Cook for about 10 minutes until the tomatoes soften then add the passata and peperoncino (if using).

Step 4

Stir and simmer on a medium heat for about 15 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste and remove the garlic when the sauce is ready.

Step 5

While the sauce is cooking, make the filling. Put the ricotta in a bowl with most of the basil torn into pieces (don’t use a metal knife on basil as it will turn brown) Mash the ricotta with a fork or use a hand held blender until the ricotta is quite creamy. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Step 6

If your ricotta seems to have a lot of liquid, drain it through a muslin or cotton cloth before making the filling.

Step 7

Cook the paccheri al dente and drain. Run some cold water over the pasta to stop it cooking further and to make it easier to fill. Spread some of the tomato sauce over the bottom of an oven dish.

Step 8

Use a teaspoon or piping bag to fill each pasta tube. Then place the paccheri side by side in the oven dish on the tomato sauce.

Step 9

Once you have filled all the paccheri, sprinkle with some grated parmigiano and bake for 10 minutes in a preheated oven at 180 until the ricotta and parmigiano start to melt. Remove from the oven and serve immediately with more of the tomato sauce.