Paccheri con Salsiccia, Zucchine e Burrata

30 minutes
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  • Total Time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: 4-6 1x

Ingredients

  • 1 pound sweet Italian sausage, casings removed, crumbled
  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 1 large zucchini, cubed
  • Salt to taste
  • Freshly ground black pepper to taste
  • 1 pound paccheri, or rigatoni
  • 1 burrata, or mozzarella, sliced
  • Grated Parmigiano

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Instructions

  1. In a large skillet, over medium heat, sauté the sausage in the olive oil and add the onion. Add a bit more olive oil if the mixture seems too dry. When the onion is translucent, add the zucchini, and cook until the mixture is golden brown. Add salt and pepper.
  2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
  3. Cook the pasta until al dente (about 2 minutes less than the package directions). Drain and retain 1 cup of the cooking water. Add the pasta to the sausage mixture and thoroughly mix together over medium heat. Add some pasta water if the mixture seems too dry. Distribute the pasta into serving bowls, and top each one with a slice of burrata.
  4. Serve immediately with Parmigiano

Ed's Review

Everyone knows that The David (Il Davide) is a masterpiece created by the 26-year-old artistic genius Michelangelo in 1504.  The long lines to get into the Accademia in Florence are worth the wait to the see the 17-foot-tall sculpture, carved by hand, out of a single block of white Carrera marble. If you cannot get tickets to see the original sculpture, you can always see a replica, installed by the city in 1910 in the same location as the original once was, the Piazza della Signoria. The replica doesn’t deliver nearly the same breathtaking punch of the original, but you’ll get the idea.

When in Florence, it’s impossible not to think of all the artistic genius that emanates from the city, including the culinary.  For example, on my last visit, I ate a spectacular version of this dish at Il Francescano, just off the Piazza Santa Croce, alongside the Basilica containing DaVinci’s bones. Odds are, it’s probably not the first time or place that these particular ingredients have been artistically combined, but if  the city can knock off the David, then I can copy a bowl of pasta. Not nearly as good as the original, but you’ll get the idea.

Buon Appetito!

Ed Garrubbo

4 thoughts on “Paccheri con Salsiccia, Zucchine e Burrata”

  1. Ed,
    I’m jealous! Eating your way through Firenze. And what eating! leave it to the Italians – so utterly simple and (from the look and sound of it at least) so utterly fabulous.
    Grazie,
    Andrea

    Reply

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