Welcome to our Pasta lover series, today we are talking about another Easy Italian: Paccheri, Schiaffoni and Mezze Maniche type of pasta!
Typical of the Campania-Partenopean, and Lazio traditions, with their tubular, rather voluminous shape, they resemble cut pieces of tube – just like giant macaroni, that you’ll find in various regions of southern Italy, (names may vary).
The name ‘paccheri’ is thought to originate from the sound the pasta makes when you dress it with sauce and fold it over. The sound is similar to the ‘paf!’ of a slap, hence ‘paccheri’ in Neapolitan dialect or ‘schiaffoni’ in Italian.
A pasta lover knows…
That an Italian meal is like an opera: it starts ‘andante’ and builds up ‘con gusto’ with each course bringing you closer to… an espresso (or two). Apparently it helps digestion.
Ahh, what would we do without pasta or coffee! 😉
Say it in Italian
How to pronounce these pasta’s names:
- Paccheri [pac-kè-ri] | pl. m. of pacchero (slap)
- Schiaffoni [skiàf-fo-nee] | pl. m. of schiaffone (slap)
- e [æ] | and, sounds like in ‘pen’
- Mezze Maniche [méz-zæ mà-ni-kæ] | pl. f. of manica (sleeve)
Quick tip 💡
For the purpose of this article I’ll use the third singular referring to paccheri, schiaffoni and maniche as pasta. However, when in Italy you’ll have to use the masculine plural (m. pl.) for the first two, and feminine plural (f. pl.) for maniche 👍
Like most of the Italian pastas, Paccheri & Co. are usually made from durum-wheat semolina and water. Legend has it that the form and size originated from the need to smuggle Italian garlic to the Austro-Hungarian Empire: the perfect shape to hide the alium.
Paccheri, Schiaffoni or Mezze Maniche?
‘Lisce or rigate’ (smooth or ridged/striped) your pick, either one is delicious! It’s a type of ‘pasta corta’ (short pasta), and it comes in a couple of sizes: regular and ‘half’ (mezzi paccheri or mezze maniche).
About ‘mezze maniche’. Is a typical pasta from central Italy, where it was known as ‘friar’s sleeves’ apparently inspired by the clothes monks wore during warm seasons. Regardless of the origins, this pasta is so pleasantly velvety and chewy that each one leads to another one. As for portion, few are enough to fill your plate and satiate you, till you call for a ‘bis’ (a second round) 😜
These styles of ‘pasta rigata’ look like shorter rigatoni, have more space for filling, and hold lots of ‘sugo’ (sauce). Either one is excellent for rich sauces and gravies, and it can be stuffed and baked to absolute perfection! As in the recipes we are proposing.
The best part is, you can find it also gluten-free! 🥳
A dish for special occasions!
A stuffed Paccheri bake is the perfect dish for special occasions, or when you want to treat yourself and your family to something truly exceptional.
Check our links, we’re proposing two versions of a Savory-Charlotte made with gluten-free pasta:
- The first is made of stuffed Paccheri with eggplants and soft/creamy cheese (a Casatella trevigiana DOP from Veneto region). And
- we have a plant-based recipe (for time being only in Italian): ‘Charlotte di paccheri ripieni al forno’ where paccheri are stuffed with a creamy potato, cannellini and escarole sauce.
Some mouthwatering and show-stopping dishes!
Quick Note 💡
A Savory-Charlotte is a very elegant way to present a pasta bake. The stuffed pasta is assembled vertically in a baking pan, held together by kitchen twine, ready to be baked.
Paccheri & Co. Gluten-Free Tips
Here are some tips for prepping gluten-free pastas.
- Use 1 L of water for every 100 grams of dry pasta.
- This is one of the best ratio to boil pasta, otherwise, it sticks together.
- Once water is boiling, toss in the pasta and then salt, it seems to cook better.
- ‘Al dente’ test. Check the cooking time couple of minutes before what’s indicated on the package.
- Gluten-free pasta goes from ‘al dente to overcooked’ in no time.
- For baking. Drain the pasta at the 1/3 mark of the cooking time.
- Use a pastry bag to fill Paccheri & Co., it’s the easiest way.
- It’s always a good idea to save some extra sauce for plating/serving.
- Gluten-free pasta absorbs a lot of sauce, more so when it’s baked.
Quick Tip 💡
Be sure to watch-out for the delicious sauce hidden in those tubes, unless you don’t mind getting it all over your face and clothing!
Thanks for reading this far, we hope you enjoy this post and eventually testing our recipes! Let us know how it goes, we’re looking forward to hearing your feedback.
More on Easy Italian
I’m an Italian gluten-free Gourmet Traveler+ and a passionate storyteller, writing in English and Italian. Fluently speaking (eating and dreaming) in Italian, English, French, and Russian. When I’m not writing, I cook and test recipes for special diets, and photograph (also on film). Not necessarily in that order. — / — Sono una viaggiatrice buongustaia (la Gourmet Traveler+) senza glutine, appassionata narratrice di storie. Scrivo in italiano e inglese, parlo (mangio e sogno) fluentemente in italiano, inglese, francese e russo. Quando non scrivo, cucino, testo ricette dolci e salate per diete speciali, fotografo (anche in pellicola). Non necessariamente in quest’ordine.
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