Stuffed Conchiglioni (Giant pasta shells)
Great for a mid week meat free dinner
Ingredients
For the Stuffed pasta
- 16 Conchiglioni Plus a few more as some will split!
- 2 tbsp Olive Oil
- 2-3 Cloves Fresh garlic, crushed
- 2 x 250g Tubs of ricotta
- 6-7 Blocks Frozen spinach, defrosted and any liquid removed by squeezing in your hand Or substitute for around a half bag of fresh spinach
- 100g Shredded mozzarella
- 50 g Parmesan or other hard cheese
- 1 Egg
- Few leaves of fresh basil
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1/2 tsp Fresh ground black pepper
For the tomato sauce
- 2 400g Tins Chopped Tomatoes Or plum Tomatoes
- 1 Spig Fresh basil
- 1 Small onion, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp Olive oil
- 1 tsp Oregano
- 1 Pinch Salt
Instructions
Making the tomato sauce
- Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over a low to medium heat
- Gently Sautee the diced onion until translucent and golden in colour
- Add the garlic and cook out for around 5 minutes
- Add the fresh and dried herbs and the seasoning, mix well
- Increase the heat and add both cans of tomatoes
- Once the sauce comes to a boil, cover and reduce the heat for a slow, steady simmer for 30 mins. Stir occasionally
- Remove the lid and continue to simmer for another 15mins then remove from heat and allow to cool
- The sauce can be used like this or for a smooth sauce just blend with a hand blender.
Making the stuffed Pasta
- Par boil the pasta for around two thirds of the recommended time, cool under running water. This should give a 'al dente' pasta that can be stuffed with too many breaking.
- In a large mixing bowl stir together the Ricotta, Spinach, Mozzarella, egg, basil and salt and pepper
- Add a layer of tomato sauce to the base of a 12 x inch baking dish
- Stuff each pasta shell with a tablespoon or two of the ricotta mixture. Keeping hands wet during this process can reduce the amount of mess!
- Arrange the shells in a single layer on top of the tomato sauce
- Cover with the remaining sauce and and bake covered in a layer of tin foil for 25 minutes
- Remove the tin foil and bake until the top begins to brown, serve with fresh bread for a simple meal
Notes
Making the sauce ahead of time greatly reduces the time to prepare this dish, it can even be frozen!
For a simple pizza sauce just follow the recipe above but do not cover whilst simmering, this will result in a thicker, richer sauce.