Even though Paccheri pasta isn’t technically from Venice, it was so crazy delicious we had to share it with you.
This dish was served in Padua, Italy which was under Venetian rule from 1405 until 1797 — So if everyone is okay with that slight technicality during our Venice week, let us introduce to you Paccheri Pasta with Rosemary and Tomato Ragu!
Padua, Italy
Padua is located 30 miles west of Venice and we had this pasta dish while we were enjoying the beauty of Piazza della Frutta and dining at Osteria al Peronio. This pasta dish was truly memorable, so we had to recreate it to share with our community.
Like most of our recipes, you can certainly make this ragu ahead of time and either reheat or freeze when you’re ready to serve.
Paccheri Pasta with Rosemary and Tomato Ragu
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp olive oil, divided
- 2 lbs ground pork
- 6 + 1 cloves garlic, minced and divided
- 5 + 2 fresh rosemary, finely chopped and divided
- 1 sprig of rosemary
- 16 oz mushrooms, cleaned
- 1 small onion, diced
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1 1/2 cups dry white wine, divided
- 28 oz can coarsely ground tomatoes or crushed
- sea salt
- ground black pepper
- 1 lb cooked pasta, we used Paccheri
- grated cheese
- red pepper flakes
- toasted chopped walnuts
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the ground pork, 6 minced cloves of garlic, 5 teaspoons of the finely chopped rosemary, large pinch of sea salt and pinch of ground black pepper. Mix well to combine and for a large patty. Cover and refrigerate.
- In a food processor, add all the mushrooms and pulse until finely chopped. If you do not have a food processor, finely chop with a large knife working in batches to chop all mushrooms.
- In a heavy bottom large pot, preferably an enamel coated pot, add all the mushrooms and cook over medium heat until the mushroom loses all their water. Transfer the mushrooms into a bowl and set aside.
- In the same pot and over medium heat, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and place the large meat patty in the pot. Cook for about five minutes or until the bottom of the patty begins to brown. Flip the patty (it’s okay if it breaks) and continue to brown the other side. Using a wooden spoon, begin breaking up the ground meat into small pieces as best you can.
- Cook the meat for about 10-15 minutes or until all the meat is well cooked and some of the edges have browned. Remove browned meat from pot and set aside.
- In the now empty pot and over medium heat, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and all the diced onion along with the last clove of minced garlic. Cook until the onion is translucent and soft. Add 1 cup of the white wine to deglaze the bottom of the pot. Stir to loosen any of the brown bits. Cook the wine down for 2 minutes.
- Add the cooked minced mushrooms to the pot and stir.
- Add the cooked ground meat to the pot and the remaining ½ cup of white wine. Stir and let cook for 2 minutes.
- Lower the heat to low and add 2 cups of whole milk, stir, and let cook for another 30 minutes. Add the can of tomatoes and the full sprig of rosemary. Let cook for 15-20 minutes.
- Serve with your favorite cooked pasta.
And if you ever make it to Padua, we highly recommend trying to be there on June 13th which is St. Anthony of Padua’s Feast Day and they have a procession.
Enjoy!
Making this recipe? Be sure and share it with us on the WOT Instagram or on Facebook!
Recipe photo by Lorianne DeVita
