Stuffed pasta shells. For an Italian-style Sunday lunch, there are some dishes that are an absolute must: lasagna, stuffed cannelloni… but also baked pasta, or pasta pasticciata with meat sauce broiled in the oven. True delicacies!
For a prettier presentation, though equally tasty – try stuffed pasta shells, shells filled with meat sauce and stringy cheese. Want to impress your guests with this tempting one-course meal? Check out the recipe below, complete with ingredients and procedure! And in our gallery, suggestions for other variations to experiment with.
Stuffed pasta shells recipe
Stuffed pasta shells: the ingredients
To prepare baked pasta shells, you will need: 11 oz pasta shells, 1 lb and 8 oz tomato sauce, 1 ½ oz Parmigiano Reggiano, 2 ½ oz golden onions, 4 ½ oz ground pork, 1 lb cow's milk ricotta cheese, 1 egg, 4 ½ oz ground beef, 9 oz mozzarella cheese, 2 oz red wine, salt and pepper to taste, extra virgin olive oil to taste and 1 clove of garlic.
Stuffed pasta shells: the procedure
Let's start with the sauce. Chop the onion finely, then fry it in a pan with a drizzle of oil. Add the tomato sauce and salt to taste. Cook the sauce, covered, over low heat for about 40 minutes. If the sauce dries out too much, add some water. In the meantime, cut the mozzarella into 7 thin slices; cut the remaining cheese into cubes. Now it's time to cook the meat: brown the clove of garlic in a frying pan with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Add the minced meat and brown – let the bottom cook first, but don’t let the meat stick to the pan!
In the meantime, put the water for the pasta over high heat and bring to a boil. Once the meat sauce has reduced, add red wine and season with salt. Let the liquid condense further and turn off the heat. Boil the shells and drain them at half the cooking time required per the instructions on the package. Once drained, transfer shells to a pan and let them finish cooking with a little oil. Transfer to a tray and let cool.
Now it's time for the filling: add ricotta cheese, diced mozzarella, meat, grated Parmigiano Reggiano, one beaten egg, salt and pepper to a bowl. Mix until well-combined to make the filling for the pasta shells. In an ovenproof dish, add a layer of tomato sauce first followed by the pasta shells that you will stuff with the filling mixture. Cover the stuffed pasta shells with more tomato sauce and garnish with slices of mozzarella, grated Parmigiano Reggiano and some pepper. Bake for about 20 minutes at 450°F (220°C). Serve hot.
The recipe for stuffed pasta shells comes from the Sicilian culinary tradition: in the original recipe, the meat sauce is made with veal mixed with tomato sauce and peas. Above, béchamel sauce is used as an alternative to tomato sauce.
Why pasta shells? All the better to fill with delicious ingredients, of course! We suggest conchiglioni pasta shells: they’re even bigger (to fit more filling!) and beautiful to look at. Usually, baked pasta shells is a dish that is prepared without skimping on the portions. If you do end up any leftovers, though, you can keep them in the fridge for a couple of days at most.