I always wondered how some shapes became pasta. Who associates pasta with wagon wheels enough to create wagon wheel shaped pasta? How about shells? Seashells shouldn't conjure up images of melty cheese for me, but they do. Then there's DeCecco's tennis racquet pasta, amusingly named rachette pasta. I've never seen this pasta sold outside of Enzo's Delicatessen, the Italian grocery/deli that opened in Columbia in 2020. As a current and former casual tennis player, I picked up a box and imagined how I could make it extra tennis-y and fun.
Many Flavors of Pesto
Tennis, to me, is most closely associated with the color green. From the rich forest green playing surfaces, to the florescent chartreuse green of tennis balls (get out if you think that color is yellow), tennis is just green.
So for pasta, of course that means pesto! I made a batch of my favorite basil pesto (though you could also make spinach pesto or even tat soi pesto, or whatever kind you want).
Clearly in my mind, this is a grass court (one of the more unpleasant surfaces to play on from what I recall!). And while the pearl mozzarella is decidedly not florescent green, I think it looks more like tennis balls than using tomatoes in this dish would look. However if you want to add cherry tomatoes too, that would be a great addition, taste-wise, and it would keep with the spherical garnish theme.
The following recipe is insanely flexible, so don't be concerned that it barely even seems like a recipe!
Rachette Pesto Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 16 ounce box rachette pasta
- ½ cup pesto (or to preference)
- 4 ounces pearl mozzarella
- Additional garnishes: grated Parmesan, cherry tomatoes, julienned basil strips
Instructions
- Cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain, except for ¼ cup of pasta water, which you should set aside.
- Begin mixing the pasta into the pesto, using any reserved hot pasta water to loosen the pesto to form a cohesive sauce.
- Garnish with mozzarella, and any other additional garnishes. Salt to taste.
Where Do You Find Rachette Pasta?
I get my locally from Enzo's Delicatessen in Columbia. It's always available online too, in a 12-pack of rachette pasta, or a more reasonable single box of rachette pasta.
Pesto Possibilities
