Candele Pasta, Anyone Cook It, or Know of Recipes??

[Mountain Cat]

I was noodling around (ahem) learning about a few types of pasta, when I came across something called Candele pasta. The resource mentioned that one could insert asparagus stalks in the center of these long tubes, and cook asparagus with pasta that way. They didn't point me at a recipe and I thought I was apt to come up with an idea or something...

Well, the Candele pasta arrived this weekned.

The noodles are TWO FEET / 60 cm LONG!

I had figured they'd be too long to stand up in any pot I had, but I could cook them lying down in a pan - but these noodles are far longer than any pan I have here.

Any ideas on what to do? (I'm still game to experiment with the asparagus, too, but I'm willing to try a few recipes, should I figure out how to cook these things! I have one Kg of them, imported from Italy.

 

[Morning Glory]

I found this - there is more info on the website:

candele are usually broken by hand into 2 or 3 irregular pieces before being cooked. I had wanted to cook them intact but unfortunately I didn’t have an oven dish long enough to do that! (For my first candele recipe, I baked them in the sauce rather than boil them)

Even if I had wanted to boil them, I couldn’t fit them into our tallest pot. I read an article in which the writer said he had cooked the candele about a minute on one side, then rotated them and started the other side. Then slowly pushed the pieces into the water as they softened. This took quite a bit of time and although most of the pieces didn’t break, it was apparently difficult.

Baked Candele with Mushrooms

 

[Mountain Cat]

Thanks, MG!

After hearing that spaghetti, linguini and so forth should never be broken, I was wondering what the regular response to this one would have been!

 

[Mountain Cat]

PS, this recipe MG linked to sounds awesome. I think I will be trying this AND stuffed at the same time with asparagus. The package which says 1 kg says there are 18 servings therein. (Can't count the number of candele until I open the package, which I am not doing until I start to cook some).

I did find another recipe (that said nothing about how they had space to cook these things) that involved seafood. It wasn't very clear on a lot of regards, but the photo had a long candele that was apparently slit lengthwise, and had bits of seafood hanging out of the tube.

They came in a box labeled "Fragile" btw.

 

[Morning Glory]

I think I will be trying this AND stuffed at the same time with asparagus.

I think that's a fun idea. I can't quite imagine how it works though!

 

[garlichead]

I think that's a fun idea. I can't quite imagine how it works though!

Neither can I. Can't imagine putting an asparagus spear into uncooked pasta tubes, then boiling these tubes with the asparagus in them, just doesn't sound very logical, to me anyway.

 

[garlichead]

After thinking about it for a few minutes, you could par boil the candele then insert the asparagus and put in a casserole dish with your choice of sauces and bake, that could work. The opportunity for the asparagus to be overcooked and stringy is always a concern I would suspect.

 

[Morning Glory]

After thinking about it for a few minutes, you could par boil the candele then insert the asparagus and put in a casserole dish with your choice of sauces and bake, that could work. The opportunity for the asparagus to be overcooked and stringy is always a concern I would suspect.

Good thinking! I've been working my way to the same conclusion.

 

[karadekoolaid]

My Italian is pretty basic, but I can usually understand a recipe.
Candele seem to be broke into 3 pieces, then cooked, then covered with a ragú, then baked in the oven - in Northern Italy. The pasta is baked in a tomato sauce then covered in the (meat) sauce when served. The meat sauce is prepared with a classic French mirepoix; carrots, celery and onions.
In Southern Italy, they prepare it with aubergines in the tomato sauce, then into the oven, with mozzarella and parmesan cheese.

 

[Mountain Cat]

After thinking about it for a few minutes, you could par boil the candele then insert the asparagus and put in a casserole dish with your choice of sauces and bake, that could work. The opportunity for the asparagus to be overcooked and stringy is always a concern I would suspect.

This sounds reasonable. I'll break into two or three pieces and play with that.

My Italian is pretty basic, but I can usually understand a recipe.
Candele seem to be broke into 3 pieces, then cooked, then covered with a ragú, then baked in the oven - in Northern Italy. The pasta is baked in a tomato sauce then covered in the (meat) sauce when served. The meat sauce is prepared with a classic French mirepoix; carrots, celery and onions.
In Southern Italy, they prepare it with aubergines in the tomato sauce, then into the oven, with mozzarella and parmesan cheese.

The Southern Italy style seems more intriguing to me. I will give it a try!!!

 

[karadekoolaid]

Just one more thing I noticed from the recipes; the candele were piled on top of one another, in fairly regular manner, and the sauce added to each layer:

Source: Ricetta Candele al forno