Monday, January 30, 2012

Lumaconi stuffed with ricotta and erbette

Lumaconi

My pasta purchasing habits can, at times, get so out of hand that at one point I had an assortment of 10 pounds stashed away among my foodstuffs: spaghetti, penne, cannelloni, fusilli, lasagne, anelli - all De Cecco by the way - and this 500 gram/1 pound box of lumaconi. Why so much? Well in some ways I'm a hoarder and in others I just need to be sure that I can feed an army at any given moment. I'm not certain of De Cecco pasta prices in the states, but a package of spaghetti can go as low as 66 euro cents here! This is when the temptation to pick up regular-priced pasta becomes hard to resist, for instance, this lumaconi.

Sheep's milk ricotta & erbette

Directions on the box states 5 lumaconi per person but I went with 8 for a total of 16. The filling is a basic ricotta and erbette (like a very young swiss chard) but spinach is also good. The erbette, as with spinach, needs to be cooked with a tiny amount of water then squeezed dry and chopped before using. I like erbette because they're easier to clean, take up less space in a pot with their flatter leaves, and have a milder taste than spinach.

Lumaconi ripieni

Filling: 3/4 pound erbette, 1 cup ricotta, 1 egg, 1/4 cup grated parmigiano, salt & pepper to taste. Prepare the erbette as directed above. Mix together with the remaining ingredients and loosely stuff the precooked lumaconi shells, placing them in a lightly oiled baking dish. Pour 1 cup or so of tomato sauce (homemade if possible!) over all; cover tightly with foil or lid and bake at 400°F for 20 minutes. Serve with grated parmigiano on top.

Lumaconi ripieni

9 Comments:

Blogger Murissa Maurice said...

Wow! Delicious post Rowena!

Thanks for sharing this recipe, I love Ricotta!!

The Wanderfull Traveler

10:33 PM, January 30, 2012  
Blogger K and S said...

I think I am part hoarder too, these look wonderfully comforting.

6:12 AM, January 31, 2012  
Anonymous Midge said...

Guilty as charged with regard to hoarding ingredients! Oh, and those lumaconi look utterly yummy!

7:34 AM, January 31, 2012  
Blogger aimee said...

Aloha Rowena,

I have left Hawaii, unfortunately, and have landed in the Midwest for a while. I've been studying the Italian language and am contemplating, if the future permits, a move ... back to Hawaii, or possibly to Italy to teach English if I can find a way.
Italy? or Hawaii? Thoughts?

xo
Aimee

8:39 PM, January 31, 2012  
Blogger Rowena... said...

WT - easy, back-of-the-box recipe!

Kat - the difference, I think, is that a hoarder will stock up on just one type of thing, like toilet paper as an example. 99 cent sale at Walmart for a 12-pack and you got people loading up. With shoppers like us who stock up on a variety of one type of thing (like teas and pasta and chocolate!), that sort of discriminating selection makes us collectors!! Buahaha!

Midge - the REAL lumaconi should be featured on this blog one day but I just don't see how I could handle cooking live ones. Maybe I'll just do the frozen.

Aimee - I'm sorry but neither wins my vote. Been there, done that. How about France???

9:27 AM, February 01, 2012  
Blogger K and S said...

I like how you phrase it :)

9:30 AM, February 01, 2012  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

You really should be packing on more fat than you are with all this pasta! Ru

1:19 AM, February 04, 2012  
Blogger Rowena... said...

Ru - it's all in the cheese! Ricotta = less fattening. Put tons of parmesan, gorgonzola, taleggio, mozzarella and bechamel and you add more curves to your curves.

9:51 PM, February 04, 2012  
Blogger aimee said...

Thanks for your vote, Rowena :-) I will continue to contemplate. Perhaps France or Spain? Hmm...

5:29 AM, February 10, 2012  

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