Paccheri is a great pasta shape from Naples, it fits great with fish as well as other sauces.

Ingredients

• 450 gr of Paccheri (see pasta making section to make your homemade pasta)
• 1 kg Octopus
• 1 shallot
• 1 Spring Onion
• 500 g Peeled tomatoes (better if San Marzano)
• Black Taggiasca olives (a handful)
• Pecorino cheese

Directions

1. Wash the octopus then put it on a cutting board, divide it in two, and cut it into not too small pieces, leaving the final part of the tentacles intact.
2. Cut our heads into strips.
3. Put it in a bowl and rinse it under water.
4. Put a large pot on the fire and cover the bottom with a little oil.
5. Add the octopus and brown it for a few moments over medium-low heat.
6. Cover with the lid without adding water or salt, and let it cook for about 20-25 minutes (adjust according to the size of the octopus), over low heat.
7. In the meantime, peel the shallot and the spring onion cut them into thin slices, and finely chop the parsley and a piece of chili pepper.
8. After about 20-25 minutes the octopus will have hunted a lot of water and will change color assuming a coloring that will tend to access pink.
9. Now add: the peeled tomatoes, parsley (but keep aside a handful), chilli, shallots, and spring onion.
10. Cover the pan again with the lid and continue cooking over low heat for another 15 minutes or so.
11. After this time, remove the lid and continue cooking for another 15 minutes (always on low heat).
12. When the sauce has shrunk a little and the octopus has acquired an intense reddish color and will be tender and juicy … the octopus sauce will be ready.
13. Taste everything and if necessary add a pinch of salt, only at the end of cooking and if necessary.
14. Add also the olives and a little more chopped parsley.
15. Put a pot with plenty of water on the fire and wait for it to boil.
16. As soon as the water boils, flavor it with a pinch of salt and cook the paccheri.
17. Just before draining them, start the fire under the pan with the octopus sauce.
18. Drain the paccheri very al dente (about 2 minutes before the recommended cooking time) and transfer them into the pan with the sauce.
19. Mix them for a few moments over a live flame, mixing everything continuously until all the seasoning is well-bound.
20. Serve the paccheri adding, directly on the plates, a little pecorino cheese shavings.