Paccheri con Ragù di Mare

Paccheri are enormous tubes, as wide as a thumb, invented in Naples to smuggle garlic cloves during Spanish rule. Today they're the perfect vessel for ragù di mare — a long-cooked seafood sauce of octopus, shrimp, and tomato that slowly reduces into something between a stew and a sauce. The pasta stands upright, the sauce pools inside each tube, and every bite is a small event.

1. 1

   Make a quick shellfish stock

   18 min

   Sauté shrimp shells in oil until pink and fragrant. Add 500 ml water, simmer 15 minutes. Strain and reserve.

2. 2

   Brown the octopus

   8 min

   In the same pot, sear octopus pieces in olive oil until lightly browned. Remove.

3. 3

   Build the base

   28 min

   Add garlic and chili. Cook 1 minute. Add wine, scrape the pot. Add tomatoes and shellfish stock. Return octopus. Simmer covered 25 minutes until tender.

   Chef's note · Octopus needs long, gentle cooking — rushing it makes it rubbery.

4. 4

   Add shrimp

   3 min

   Add shrimp to the sauce, cook 3 minutes until pink.

5. 5

   Cook and serve

   8 min

   Boil paccheri until al dente. Toss into the ragù. The tubes should stand upright on the plate, sauce pooling inside each one.