The sun is shining, the birds are chirping and the scent of fresh basil is in the air. What could be better than spoiling yourself with a delicious dish? The paccheri (the name comes from the Neapolitan paccharia, which means "slap in the face") go perfectly with the creamy basil pesto. The calamari give the dish a fresh, Mediterranean flavour. This recipe is not only very tasty, but also relatively easy to prepare. With just a few simple steps, you can bring a real summer treat into your home.


Ingredients Paccheri pasta dough
1000 g wholemeal flour
1000 g wheat flour 00
500 g water
250 g eggs


Ingredients basil pesto
120 g basil leaves
100-150 ml good olive oil
60 g roasted pine nuts
Salt
Pepper from the mill


Other ingredients
Paccheri homemade or bought
Top quality calamari
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Basil leaves
Pine nuts

For the pasta dough, mix the ingredients well and make paccheri using a pasta press (alternatively, buy from your favourite Italian Deli). Remove the innards from the calamari, rinse and cut into fine rings. For the basil pesto, mix all the ingredients together and season with salt and pepper. Add a little olive oil if necessary. Now it's time to cook the paccheri "al dente".

Gently heat the basil pesto with a little pasta water and stir in the grated Parmesan cheese. Add the paccheri to the pesto and toss well. If required, you can now add a little seasoning. Fry the calamari briefly in a pan with a little olive oil. Arrange the paccheri, top with the calamari and serve with freshly plucked basil and some pine nuts.