Pasta alla carrettiera or Sicilian-style picchi-pacchiu or pic pac pasta
Piccoli-pacchiu or pic pac: a #Sicilian #pasta with a unique name 😋 simple and SO GOOD!
The origin of its name, according to some, can be traced back to the dialect noun for the female genital organ ('u pàcchiu), which is therefore associated with an exhilarating and positive experience.
Others, however, rule out the sexual allusion, favoring an onomatopoeic theory: in other words, it lies in the sizzling sound the tomato makes as soon as it's dropped into hot oil. A pic pac, in fact, typical of a food added to an already crackling pan, which the locals would have drawn inspiration from.
For 4:
Oil to taste
1 clove garlic and a quarter of an onion, chopped
Oil to taste, salt, and basil
400 g fresh cherry tomatoes
400 g pasta of your choice
4 tablespoons grated caciocavallo or Parmesan cheese
Fry the chopped onion and garlic in a generous drizzle of oil. Then add the chopped cherry tomatoes, salt, and plenty of basil. Cook the sauce until the tomatoes are soft. Mash them while cooking, stir, and cover with a lid. Cook the pasta and 1 minute before the end of cooking, add it to the sauce along with a little of the cooking water. Mix well and cook the pasta like a risotto. Finally, add the grated cheese, stir again, and serve.