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Stuffed Shells

Welcome back to Chez Chefpo! 
Today, we have a recipe for Italian Stuffed Shells! Fun fact, the Italian name for this is conchiglie (The Italian word for shell is conchiglia, so that's just the plural form of shell). However, I feel like I've never seen it written like that. 

This recipe is a little bit different from a normal stuffed shells recipe because the traditional dish uses just the cheese mixture in the middle while ours uses half of that type of mixture and the other half is a bolognese sauce. But don't worry, there's still plenty of cheese for this is topped with cheese and then some!

Stuffed Shells


Makes about 4 servings

Ingredients:

Ricotta Sauce:
  • 16 ounces ricotta cheese
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
  • 1/4 cups Parmesan cheese (optional)
  • Salt to taste
Bolognese Sauce:
  • 1 pound ground beef
  • 1/2 medium onion
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 can (14 ounces) crushed tomatoes
  • 1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste
  • 1 can tomato sauce
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 teaspoon herbs (italian seasoning, parsley, basil, whatever)
  • Salt and pepper to taste 
Or instead of the last seven items (crushed tomatoes to salt and pepper), you can use one jar of your favorite marinara/pasta sauce. We used Rao's Homemade.
You can also add 1/2 a cup of red wine if you like.

Assembly:
  • 1 box (12 ounces) big shell pasta
  • 1 cup marinara sauce
  • 1 cup mozzarella cheese
  • 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
  • Some parsley

Directions:

  1. Cook the pasta shells.
  2. Meanwhile, prepare the ricotta sauce:
    1. Add everything into a bowl and stir it until smooth. This may take a while but the texture is important.
  3. Prepare the bolognese sauce:
    1. In a pan, saute the onion until soft. Then, add in the garlic.
    2. Put in the ground beef now and cook until it's brown.
    3. Add the rest of the ingredients in and mix. If you're using pre-prepared pasta sauce, this should be pretty easy.
    4. Simmer for at least 30 minutes. The longer you cook it the better, we recommend 2 hours.
  4. Assembly!
    1. Take a large dish (the one you'll be serving the recipe in) and put the 1 cup of marinara sauce in evenly on the bottom.
    2. Fill half of each shell with the bolognese sauce.
    3. Fill the other half of each shell with the ricotta sauce.
    4. As you make each shell, place them into the dish. Make sure that they're pretty tight!
    5. Sprinkle on top the 1 cup mozzarella and 1/4 cup parmesan, as well as some parsley.
    6. Put it in the oven at 350° covered for 25 minutes. Then, cook it uncovered for another 25 minutes.
    7. You're done!
Voila! This really hits the spot when you're craving Italian food since it's got everything: the bolognese, the ricotta, the pasta, and most importantly, the cheese. Plus, eating it is fun because the giant shells are just great vehicles of taste for your mouth. Feel free to try this recipe with just the ricotta to make it a little more classic!

Bonus: I got this picture that was surprisingly a e s t h e t i c so I'll drop it here. You could use it as a computer background or something. 

-Chefpo
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