Can you possibly fall in love with a pasta? That’s close to what I felt (okay, that’s an exaggeration) when I first saw this uniquely shaped pasta, it’s called caserecce. It looks like mini scrolls, I knew instantly it would be perfect for my pesto sauce waiting at home in the fridge ( it was supposed to be for the linguine I was planning to buy). I grabbed a 500g pack of Divella caserecce (I’m not sure how to pronounce it), it’s almost double the price of a regular linguine but I think, no I’m pretty sure it’s worth it.

My husband dear told me a pasta is a pasta, they’re all the same, taste the same, made with the same ingredients, they only differ in shapes and sizes. Excuse me?!, said I to my silly husband, would you call a cookie a brownie, they have the same ingredients, almost, and I know for a fact that you prefer one over the other and now can you imagine pesto on elbow macaroni?

Ahhh, yes what’s wrong with that?, said he, my sensible husband, how could he argue with me on this…but of course he’s right, it’s legal to do that but it wouldn’t be as appetizing or appealing to me. No offense to those who love elbow macaroni, it’s just that I’ve always relate elbow macaroni to sopas (macaroni soup) and macaroni salad and of course mac and cheese. Likewise, I can’t imagine a farfalle (bow-tie) done ala mac and cheese or a rigatoni with aglio e olio; I’m silly that way… for me, certain pasta shapes goes with certain sauce/s.

Anyways, I was right, it turns out exactly as I have pictured it in my mind ( it looks much better than the photo above) perfect for pesto! I found a new favorite pasta play with, I want to try a different sauce on this next time. I have something in my mind which I’m gonna post here once I get it to it.

Caserecce Pesto with Ham
Here’s a quick recipe, actually the only recipe that you need is for the
pesto, if you don’t already have it…

You will need:

caserecce pasta
ready made pesto sauce ( homemade or store-bought)
cooked ham, chopped
olive oil for sauteeing

Here’s how:
Cook caserecce according to package direction, mine says cook for 7 minutes. Drain water but leave a little to thin down the consistency of pesto sauce. Saute cooked ham in a little olive oil for about 2 minutes, just to heat it up. Pour some pesto on the pasta and mix thoroughly until the pasta is evenly coated, Decide on the amount of pesto according to your preference, I like it slightly thick on the pasta, I always look for a deep green color. Add in the cooked ham and toss.
That’s it, you’re done! Serve hot with garlic bread . Yummy!

Enjoy!

Olive

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