Paccheri (pronounced pakkeri) pasta is a large, hollow, tubular-shaped pasta. It is much larger and wider in diameter compared to rigatoni, although both types of pasta look very similar in shape. This is such a warming and comforting appetizer (or meal) that everyone will love. I adapted the recipe to make it on the lighter side by using cottage cheese and low-fat mozzarella cheese. This will not compromise the taste, and no one will be able to detect the cottage cheese. With that said, feel free to try it with ricotta cheese if you prefer.

A legend says that these wide pasta tubes were created and developed to smuggle garlic cloves across the alps into Prussia (now Austria). Apparently, the garlic was much less flavorful there, then what was grown in Italy. In the early 1600s, the Prussian Government banned the importation of Italian garlic to protect their own garlic farmers.

The story goes that Southern Italian pasta makers secretly invented paccheri pasta to cleverly hide approximately 4 cloves inside each tube. The government had not been able to find out how Italian garlic was being smuggled across the Alps.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Boil water in a big pot to cook the pasta. Don’t forget to salt the water once it comes to a boil to impart some flavor. Cook pasta according to box directions.

In the meantime, prepare a springform pan lined with foil, so nothing drips into your oven and so the sauce has a place to rest. Pour about 1 cup of the sauce (reserve the rest) onto the bottom of the pan and add the biscuit maker to the center of the pan to hold the shape.

Make the Filling.

Strain the cottage cheese through a cheesecloth to get rid of excess moisture. Then add the cottage cheese, 3/4 cup mozzarella, and Pecorino cheese to a high-speed blender. Blend on high until it is a smooth consistency. Add sea salt and pepper to taste. If you think it’s a bit runny, add 2-3 tablespoons of flour to thicken it. Some cottage cheese can be runny, making this mixture very wet and runny.

Place a piping bag or plastic bag inside the mason jar, and spoon in half the filling. Let it sit in the jar until you strain the pasta.

Once the pasta has done, gently dump it into a colander and run cold water over it, so it’s easier to handle.

Snip a tiny hole in one corner of the piping bag. Working with 1 paccheri at a time, pipe in the filling and place in the pan upright. The beginning part of the this is tedious, but once you have a few in the pan, they will rest on each other and not fall over. Keep piping the filling.

Pour additional sauce, about 1 cup over the pasta. Cover with foil and place in the upper middle part of the oven to bake for 35 minutes. Then remove the foil, add the remaining mozzarella cheese and sprinkle of Pecorino Romano cheese.  Crank up the oven temp to 375 degrees and bake an additional 8-10 minutes.

Last, using the broiler but not direct heat. The pan should be at least 8 inches away from heat source. Broil for 2 minutes until golden. Keep an eye so it doesn’t burn. Once it starts to get golden and crispy with a few burned edges, it’s done.

Pour more sauce inside the biscuit ring. This is ready to serve. I don’t recommend you release from the pan, part of the fun is pulling out the paccheri,- something my kids love to do – and then dipping into the warmed, spicy, and garlicy tomato sauce.

Note: As this bakes, the cheese will sink down a little. This is a good thing, so you can pull the paccheri out easily without having the cheese get all over your hands. You will love it!

Mangia!