This is such a simple & fresh dish, yet so tasty & fulfilling. It also makes a great cold pasta salad for lunch the next day!
I have used strozzapreti (pronounced stroh-tzuh-PRAY-tee), mainly because I like the shape and the thickness – orecchiette (little ears), shells or bow ties would work well too. Strozzapreti, I have discovered, is italian for ‘priest strangler’, because it is shaped like a rolled towel, although what that has to do with priests I am not entirely sure. For more information on different pasta shapes, names and meanings, check out this website… www.foodsubs.com/PastaShapes.html
This is one of favourite desserts at the moment. I am not a huge fan of fresh pears, but love them poached. I know the sophisticated, gourmand thing to do is to poach the pears in red wine… but sometimes, chocolate sauce can do the trick.