Paccheri Pasta with Stars

This post is also available in: Italiano

Belgian endive is a vegetable that I use often during the winter stewed with a little beer. This recipe pairs it with pasta and the result is very tasty. This first course dish is a dish containing: carbohydrates, protein, calcium and vitamins.

PACCHERI PASTA WITH STARS
Preparation time: 20 minutes | Cooking time: the time indicated on the pasta package
(Serves 4)

3 heads of Belgian endive
2 sprigs of wild fennel
4 slices of bacon or speck if you can find it, cut a little thicker than usual
3 cloves of garlic
1 1/2 tablespoons of butter
4 ounces cheese Emmental
1/2 bottle of red stout beer like “Moretti”
1/2 pound paccheri pasta (large tube)
salt and pepper

  1. With a star-shaped cookie cutter, cut out the slices of bacon into 12 stars, with the aid of a sharp knife if the bacon starts to fray. Refrigerate the stars on a plate covered with plastic wrap. (This decorative aspect can be left out and the bacon can be cut into cubes). Cut any leftover bacon into very small pieces.
  2. Wash the endive and cut the heads in half with a knife, remove the central core. Boil a bit of salted water and when it boils, add in the endive and blanch for 3 minutes. Drain and cut into strips.
  3. Add the garlic to a pan, along with the chopped bacon, endive, and beer. Simmer for 20 minutes until the preparation becomes quite dry.
    Turn off the heat and add 1 1/2 tablespoons of butter. Keep warm.
  4. Grate the emmental with large holes of the grater.
  5. Cook the pasta and when cooked take 4 tablespoons of the cooking water and pour it in the sauce, drain the pasta and mix all the ingredients together. Add a final sprinkling of cheese on each plate.
  6. Arrange onto single plates, adding the stars of bacon and wild fennel to finish.
 

Comments are closed.