1 hours 40 mins

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1200ml chopped tomatoes

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

4 cloves garlic (2 for sauce, 2 for filling), cleaned and pressed

Handful of fresh organic basil

Salt and pepper to taste

700g Paccheri

Large pot of boiling salted water

880g baby spinach

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

½ yellow onion minced

½ small shallot minced

½ tsp fresh grated nutmeg

2 eggs

½ cup Parmigiano

1000 ml good quality ricotta

Salt and pepper to taste

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1. Make the tomato sauce. In a medium sauce pan heat up olive oil and half the garlic. When garlic starts to sizzle pour in chopped tomatoes. Rinse the can with a little water and pour into pan.

2. Toss in fresh basil broken up a bit by hand. Season with salt and pepper. Cover slightly and simmer for about 20-25 minutes or until sauce thickens.

3. Make the ricotta spinach filling. While sauce is simmering heat up oil with the remaining half of the garlic, minced onion, and shallot, in a large sautee pan.

4. When garlic starts to sizzle and onion/shallot are translucent, add in baby spinach a little at a time. Cook for about 10-15 minutes until nice and tender.

5. Place spinach in a sieve and let drain. Chop spinach finely and place in a mixing bowl.

6. Add in ricotta and egg, fold with a spatula until uniform.

7. Toss in grated nutmeg and Parmigiano and mix till well blended. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

8. In a large pot bring salted water to a boil. Place paccheri into boiling water and cook for 8 minutes.

9. Drain and place in cold water to stop cooking. Drain again and set aside.

10. Take two large baking dishes and spoon a good amount of tomato sauce onto the bottoms.

11. Scoop filling mixture into a piping bag, and grab paccheri and slowly pipe filling holding the paccheri at the bottom so the filling does not fall out, and fill right to the top.

12. Place filled paccheri onto the sauced dish and continue in this matter till all the paccheri are filled and placed side by side.

13. Take remaining sauce and spoon over paccheri. Sprinkle with a generous amount of grated Parmigiano.

14. Top with a dusting of fine breadcrumbs, and finally a drizzle of olive oil.

15. Cover and place in fridge overnight or for just a few hours.

16. Pre-heat oven to 200 C. Place dish on middle rack and bake for 35 minutes: 15 minutes covered in foil and 15 minutes uncovered.

17. At the end turn oven to a low broil and cook for an additional 1-2 minutes or until top is nice and crispy.

18. Take out of oven, let sit for a few minutes, ready to serve.