Paccheri Pie, Step-by-Step

Ann and I love pasta; it is one of our absolute favorite foods and our go-to any time that we want comfort food. At some point in the past year or so, Ann had spied a photo of paccheri baked in a springform pan and we resolved to make it during the holiday, ordering in paccheri, a cut that is not available locally here in the food desert that is Central Oregon.

Paccheri Pie

Paccheri, pronounced like "packery," is a pasta from the south of Italy, from Campania, the region whose capital is Naples, birthplace of Ann's biological parents. How fitting for her that we should be using this pasta! Paccheri is similar to a really fat and thick rigatoni, albeit not quite as long as rigatoni but much wider in diameter with thicker walls.

Specifically, we bought paccheri lisce, the smooth version (as opposed to rigati, "ridged" or millerighe, "thousand ridged") from a new-to-me pasta maker called Marulo. Marulo hails from the Torre Annuziata neighborhood of Naples, situated right at Pompei.

This pasta is wickedly expensive, running about $13 for 500g at retail; wholesale is about half of this, but I no longer need wholesale quantities of anything to feed the two of us. However, it may be the best quality commercial dried pasta that I have ever eaten and for a special occasion, worth every penny.

As an aside, how can a leading brand of pasta in Italy be that crap that Barilla makes? Granted, Barilla in the States is made in the States, and Barilla in Italy is made in Italy, but still...I guess there is no accounting for taste in either country.

One reason that I love paccheri so much is that I love pasta with bite–keep your wimpy capelli d'angelo and the like. Give me a thick toothy pasta any day. Ditto for Ann.

Paccheri is new to us at home, but I used to cook it from time-to-time at the restaurant, but rarely and mainly for staff meals. We were never trying to compete with our good friends at the neighboring Italian restaurant. (But, hey, they're northerners and what do they know about paccheri, eh?). So, can I help it if one of our best selling entrees in the final couple of years was triofe al pesto with pulled beef shortrib, my homage to Liguria? Or that we made gnocchi damn near every day?

We planned to make our paccheri pie for friends in the week between Christmas and New Year's, but that plan evaporated on account of illness. Instead, Ann and I assembled and baked the pie on New Year's Eve just for the two of us, after our plans to celebrate New Year's Eve with Rob and Dyce also went up in smoke, again because of illness.

Following is a recipe for enough beef ragù and ingredients to make at 25cm (nominally 10") springform pan of paccheri, sufficient to feed 6-8 people.

Beef Ragù

Making beef ragù is a labor of love. The preparation is simple, but it takes time. In this case, the sauce took roughly eight and a half hours, but only 30 minutes of that was active preparation and searing. The other eight hours saw the ragù cook slowly on the stovetop until the meat fell apart. This is a perfect dish to put in a slow cooker and forget. If you do use a slow cooker, you'll need to remove the lid in the last hour or two of cooking to reduce the liquid in the sauce.

For beef, I used flatiron from the chuck, a cut that will take longer to fall apart than others, but whose flavor is unmatched. Besides chuck, you can use any flavorful braising cut that you like such as short ribs, shank, or neck. I wanted to use short ribs, but they're almost impossible to find here in town.

You're probably best served by making the ragù a day or two in advance of cooking the paccheri pie, especially because it is easier to stuff the paccheri with stiff, cold sauce rather than loose, liquid sauce.

As for any sauce that is going to reduce, season the sauce after it has reduced so that you do not oversalt it. Cook until the sauce is very thick; you really do not want a lot of liquid to leak out of the paccheri pie while it is baking.

The following recipe yields about two liters of sauce.

3 pounds beef shoulder, shank, short ribs, or other braising cut, in 1-inch cubes
4 ounces guanciale, diced
1 large onion, finely diced
1 large carrot, finely diced
1 large stalk celery, finely diced
4 large cloves garlic, finely minced
1 sprig rosemary
1 tablespoon dried basil
8 fluid ounces (1 cup) dry red wine
8 fluid ounces (1 cup) milk, cream, or half and half

1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes with their juice
salt to taste

Debone and Dice Beef into 1"/2.5cm Cubes

Working in Batches, Brown the Beef and the Guanciale

Browned Beef and Guanciale

Mise en Place: Onion, Celery, Carrot, Garlic, Guanciale, Rosemary

Sweat the Vegetables in the Pan After Meat is Browned
Add Basil, Garlic, and Rosemary; Scrape All Brown Bits from Pan

Deglaze Vegetables with Red Wine;
Add Meat, Tomatoes, and Milk;
Scrape Any Brown Bits off the Bottom of the Pan

Cook at a Simmer Until Beef Shreds Easily and Sauce is Thick;
Add Water as Necessary and Stir as Needed

Paccheri Pie

The assembly of the paccheri pie is easy. You'll need a 25cm (10") springform pan and a sheet tray to catch any sauce that leaks out while baking. Par-cook the paccheri in boiling salted water until just about done. These cooked for about 18 minutes and would have taken about 20 to be fully al dente and ready to eat. Stand the pasta on end in the cheese-coated mold and stuff them with sauce.

You'll find that cold sauce works better than warm sauce and that your fingers are the best tool for stuffing the pasta. Spread a layer of cheese over the top. Don't be shy with the cheese; it is the glue that holds the pie together. Bake in a moderate oven (350F) until nicely browned.

After the pie bakes, let it cool for a few minutes before running a spatula around the edges and unmolding it. A pie this size will feed six easily and eight with a substantial side dish.

500g paccheri

pan spray or olive oil

1/2 cup grated pecorino

2 liters beef ragù

8 ounces (250g) grated mozzarella

Paccheri Lisce, Boil in Salted Water Until Almost Done

Coat the Springform with Oil or Pan Spray and Grated Cheese

Arrange Par-Cooked Paccheri in the Mold

Stuff the Paccheri Tightly with Sauce

Cover the Top with Grated Mozzarella

Ready to Bake

Bake in a Moderate Oven Until Well Browned, About an Hour

This paccheri pie turned out to be a really fun dish to make and to eat and it seems like a great dish for company in that you can make it in advance and throw it in the oven at the last minute so that it can cook while you are mingling with your guests.