Sombreroni Pasta; easier to make than say! By Barbara

You may have read the previous blog about visiting the lovely Alberobello, it mentions the little artisan shops that sell all sorts, from tea towels to liquors and pasta to pottery. We brought home a packet of extremely colourful "Sombreroni" (pasta which looks like large, stripey, multicoloured sombrero hats) and gave them to Barbara who then shared her secret recipe with us!

"I was more than a little nervous about attempting to cook the Sombreroni (pasta that’s hat-shaped but with a cunning like-ness to trulli) but in the end, it was very simple.

First I prepared the elements for my normal lasagne: 

• Chopped and browned about 400g of mince beef and added a good amount of spaghetti sauce so that the mixture was quite runny. Then simmered for 20 minutes or so until cooked and flavourful. My seasonings included cinnamon, garlic and onions.
• Added about 2 cups of cheese sauce made with strong cheddar.
• Mixed 250g of natural cottage cheese with an egg, some parsley and about 1/4 cup of grated parmesan to make the cottage cheese mixture.
• Cut two balls of mozzarella cheese into small pieces.
• Grated extra parmesan for sprinkling over before cooking in the oven. 

Then, I boiled the pasta as directed on the packet (since it was in Italian we guessed it to be "pre-cook by boiling carefully in salted water for 4 minutes”), gently stirred, carefully drained through a colander and rinsed with cold water.

After that…

1) I spread some cheese sauce thinly over the bottom of the casserole dish.

2) Took a Sombreroni, held it upside down and popped a small piece of mozzarella into the peak,       followed by a small spoonful of meat sauce, a little cottage cheese mixture and a little more mozzarella.

3) Took a disc, placed it over the hat, turned it over and popped in the casserole dish.

I repeated this until all the hats were filled, sprinkled any remaining ingredients over the pasta and popped the casserole dish in the oven at about 190’C until it was hot through and bubbling (roughly 30-40 minutes).

Thanks to my family for introducing me to this delicious and intriguing pasta. I just may have to pop over there myself to stock up!"

Thanks to Barbara for sharing! For more information about artisan pasta in the Puglia region click here. For more information about the recipe please get in touch with us at trullocarlotta@gmail.com.

To find out how to make your own pasta from scratch check out our simple recipe!

Trullo Carlotta is lovely family-owned villa in Castellana Grotte, Puglia. To find out more about Trullo Carlotta including key info, features and facilities and prices please visit our website www.trullocarlotta.com.

For all holiday enquiries, contact Caroline by email: trullocarlotta@gmail.com or phone: +441423 871741.