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Posts Tagged ‘Pasta shells’

Baked Pasta Shells

Posted in Food, Pasta, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on 12 January 2025| Leave a Comment »

A vegetarian dish picked by Orlaith who wants to be a vegetarian for January – we’ll see how she goes! She wasn’t put off by this dish anyhow.

Wine Suggestion: A juicy, youthful Sangiovese or similar, like Umani Ronchi’s Serrano Rosso Conero which is a Montepulciano-Sangiovese blend. Bright, joyful red fruits with a smooth elegance and vivacity of youth.

Baked pasta shells – serves 4

  • 250g conchiglioni (big pasta shells)
  • 1 tbsp rapeseed oil, plus a bit extra
  • 400g baby spinach
  • 250g ricotta cheese
  • 200g Greek yoghurt
  • 30g grated Parmesan cheese,
  • 2 garlic cloves, crushed
  • zest of 2 lemons
  • 10 fresh basil leaves, shredded
  • ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1 x 700g jar of tomato passata

FOR THE TOPPING:

  • 70g fresh breadcrumbs
  • 70g grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1 tsp chopped fresh thyme
  • 1 tbsp butter, melted

Heat the oven to 170C.

Bring a large pan of very salty water to the boil. Add the pasta shells and cook for no more than 9 minutes – they need to be undercooked. Drain and cool under running cold water, then drain again and drizzle with a little oil to stop the shells sticking together, then set aside.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add the spinach and cook for 1-2 minutes, until just wilted. Remove the pan from the heat and leave to cool, then squeeze out any moisture and roughly chop it.

Put the chopped spinach into a large bowl with the ricotta, yoghurt, Parmesan, garlic, lemon zest, basil and nutmeg and mix to combine. Season with salt and pepper.

Pour half the passata over the bottom of a large baking dish and season with salt and pepper. Stuff the shells with the ricotta and spinach mixture, then add the shells to the dish on top of the sauce, stuffed side up. Pour over the rest of the passata and season with a little more salt and pepper.

Mix the breadcrumbs, Parmesan and thyme in a small bowl, then pour over the melted butter and toss to combine. Sprinkle this over the top of the pasta, then bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes, until the breadcrumbs are golden and the pasta is bubbling.

(Original recipe from Avoca at Home, Penguin Random House, 2022.)

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Stuffed Pasta Shells with Spinach, Chilli & Lemon

Posted in Food, Italian, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on 15 April 2023| Leave a Comment »

Stuffed pasta shells with spinach, ricotta chilli and lemon. Tomato sauce underneath and lots of Parmesan on top.

Wine Suggestion: An old favourite from the Adriatic coast of Italy, Sartarelli’s Tralivio Verdicchio Superiore, which comes from their low-yielding, oldest vineyard. A bit of body and texture plus a twist of almonds and citrus; playing along very nicely with the lemon, ricotta and earthy spinach, and enough acidity to complement the tomato.

Stuffed pasta shells with chilli, spinch and lemon – serves 2

  • 175g giant pasta shells
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
  • a pinch of dried chilli flakes
  • 200g spinach, chopped
  • 125g ricotta
  • ½ lemon, zested
  • 400g jar of tomato pasta sauce or you can use some home-made sauce if you have it
  • Parmesan

Heat the oven to190C/fan 170C/gas 5.

Cook the shells in lots of salty water until al dente, then drain.

Heat the oil in a pan and gently cook the garlic and chilli for 2-3 minutes. Stir in the spinach and cook until wilted, then stir in the ricotta and lemon zest. Season well.

Spoon the tomato sauce into the base of a large baking dish. Use a teaspoon to stuff the pasta shells with the spinach mixture, then place in the dish in a single layer. If you have any leftover mixutre you can spoon it over the top.

Sprinkle with the Parmesan and bake for 20-25 minutes or until bubbling and golden.

(Original recipe by Janine Ratcliffe in Olive Magazine, March 2019.)

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Pasta with Sage Butter, Feta & Pine Nuts

Posted in Food, Pasta, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on 12 September 2022| 2 Comments »

We are cooking our way through Persian Everyday by Sabrina Ghayour. We struggle like everyone to eat well on busy days but this book is perfect for just that.

Wine Suggestion: White, lemony and medium bodied. Maybe a youthful Verdicchio, or our current fave, Zuani’s Ribolla Gialla Sodevo, from Collio in North East Italy. A grape that was so higly regarded by the Romans they implemented laws to protect it from adulteration … possibly the world’s first appellation laws …we’ll need to investigate further.

Pasta with sage butter, feta & pine nuts – serves 2

  • 200g pasta shells
  • 75g butter
  • 20 sage leaves
  • 25g pine nuts
  • 100g feta cheese
  • 2 pinches of pul biber chilli flakes

Cook the pasta in lots of very salty water according to the timings on the packet.

When the pasta is almost cooked, put a large frying pan over a gentle heat. Add the butter and sage and allow the butter to melt gently but don’t let it sizzle much. Keep stirring so the sage flavours the butter.

Roughly drain the pasta (you want a little bit of water still on the pasta) and add to the pan with the butter and sage. Turn up the heat and season very generousy with black pepper and a little sea salt. Add the pine nuts and toss everything together, then add the feta and stir until melting and starting to coat the pasta.

Serve spinkled with extra black pepper and a pinch of pul biber.

(Original recipe from Persiana Everyday by Sabrina Ghayour, Aster, 2022.)

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Conchiglie Rigate Piccanti – Pasta with Spicy Pork & Tomato Sauce

Posted in Food, Italian, Pasta, Pork, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on 12 March 2019| 2 Comments »

Conchiglie Rigate Piccanti

This pasta sauce is rich and full of flavour and works best without cheese, so don’t be tempted to add any. A new favourite for us and great for using up sun-dried tomatoes.

Wine Suggestion: Pico Maccario make some delicious Barbera and their entry “Lavignone” is a benchmark for the Asti region (Piedmont). Not only does it work with this dish, but we’d suggest versatile for many other dishes and occasions; a crowd pleaser and very food friendly.

Conchiglie Rigate Piccanti – serves 4

  • 5 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 80g pitted Kalamata olives, halved
  • 1 hot red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
  • 80g sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained and finely chopped
  • 300g pork mince
  • 300g passata
  • 400g conghiglie rigate (medium shell pasta)

Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over a medium heat and fry the onion and olives for a couple of minutes, stirring now and then.

Add the chilli, sun-dried tomatoes and the pork mince and continue frying for another 6 minutes.

Stir in the passata and gently simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes. Keep stirring every couple of minutes. Season with salt and remove from the heat.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta in plenty of salty water according the timings on the pack. Drain and tip back into the saucepan.

Pour the sauce into the pasta pan and stir over a low heat for 30 seconds to combine.

(Original recipe from Gino’s Pasta by Gino D’Acampo, Kyle Books, 2010.)

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Conchiglie al Cavolo Nero

Posted in Food, Italian, Pasta, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on 12 February 2017| 1 Comment »

Conchiglie al Cavolo Nero

We’ve made this a couple times recently as  Cavolo Nero is around and we keep on being drawn to it. Especially as we’re starting to tire of root veg and looking forward to all the treats that will come with Spring.

The dish is  creamy and cheesy, with load of garlic and iron rich Cavolo Nero. Fairly rich for a main course in our opinion but absolutely perfect served in small starter portions.

If it suits you can blanch and dry the Cavolo nero and make the garlic puree in advance which leaves very little to do to get the dish on the table.

Wine suggestion: An old favourite came to the rescue here in the form of the Sartarelli Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico Superiore “Tralivio” which has a great weight but also a freshness and vibrant texture. The flavour of the food isn’t shy, so make sure whatever you choose has enough body to cope.

Conchiglie al Cavolo Nero – serves 6 as a starter

  • 900g Cavolo Nero
  • 300ml double cream
  • 7 garlic cloves, peeled
  • 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 2-3 dried chillies, crumbled or 2 tsp chilli flakes (adjust to your heat preference)
  • 150g Parmesan, freshly grated
  • 250g conchiglie or other shell-shaped pasta

Remove the central stalk from the Cavelo Nero leaves and cut each one into 3 or 4 pieces. Blanch the leaves in boiling salted water for 3 minutes by which time they should be tender and bright green. Drain and dry in a clean tea towel.

Put the double cream and 5 of the whole garlic cloves into a pan and simmer until the garlic is soft, about 15 minutes. Purée in a blender.

In a separate pan, heat the olive oil and fry the remaining 2 garlic cloves, cut into thin slices, and the chilli. When the garlic has coloured, add the blanched Cavolo Nero, stir & season. Pour in the cream and garlic purée, bring to the boil, and cook for 5 minutes until the Cavolo Nero is coated and the sauce has thickened. Add the Parmesan.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta in plenty of boiling salted water, then drain well before mixing well with the sauce.

(Original recipe from The River Cafe Cookbook by Rose Gray & Ruth Rogers, Ebury Press, 1995.)

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