Everything is better broiled


Photo credit: M

Giant shells are a largely ignored, but extremely delicious, member of the pasta family. They are a quick, versatile base upon which a dish can easily be built, and lend themselves to culinary adventurousness – intrepid chefs can fill them with any combination of ingredients they can dream up. Friday night, M and I tried our hand at shells and agreed on a simple recipe (read: a recipe that would let us watch ‘The Walking Dead’ sooner). This is definitely a keeper: satisfyingly spinach-y and cheesy without being too rich, with a light tomato sauce that adds a touch of sweet acidity that rounds the dish out nicely.

A note: It was M’s idea to add mozzarella and broil the shells before removing them from the oven. For once, he was right.

Baked spinach and ricotta stuffed pasta shells
Adapted from Whole Foods

Ingredients
 -24 medium-large pasta shells (about 250 g of dry pasta), or 16 jumbo shells
- 1 cup light ricotta cheese
- 1 cup part-skim mozzarella, grated, plus 2-3 tbsp extra to garnish
- 1 cup frozen spinach, thawed
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
- 1 ½ cups marinara sauce
- Parmigiano-Reggiano, to garnish (optional)

1.     Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and prepare as indicated on the box until pasta is al dente. Drain and allow to cool.

2.     Preheat over to 375F. In a large bowl, mix egg, ricotta, mozzarella, thawed spinach and garlic well.

3.     Add a few spoonfuls of marinara sauce to the bottom of a shallow baking dish that is large enough to hold all of the shells in a single layer. Fill each shell with the cheese and spinach mixture and arrange in the dish.

4.     Pour remaining sauce on the shells, cover with aluminum foil and bake for 20-30 minutes. Uncover and continue baking for 5 minutes.

5.     Remove from the oven, add additional 2-3 tbsp mozzarella and return to the oven. Broil for 2-5 minutes, watching closely, until the cheese is golden brown and bubbling.

6.     Remove from oven, add Parmigiano-Reggiano if desired, and serve hot.

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