Spinach and Ricotta Cheese Stuffed Pasta Shells

My sister introduced me to these giant pasta shells.  I love cooking these using a similar recipe to my cannelloni recipe.  The shells are a lot quicker to cook and easier to fill.  I have cooked them several times but never managed to get decent photographs of the final dish.  The nice thing about this recipe is that I use no oil or butter to make it.

Ingredients:

• • 20 large pasta shells
  • 3 cups of cooked and blended spinach
  • 250 gms of ricotta cheese
  • 2 cups of grated cheddar cheese
  • 1 pint of milk to make the white sauce
  • 2-3 tbls plain flour
  • 3 cups of passata to make the red sauce
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 2 green chillies
  • 5-6  cloves of garlic
  • 1 tsp turmeric to add to the pasta when cooking
  • some salt to add to the pasta when cooking
  • ½tsp ground nutmeg
  • ½tsp oregano

Method:

1.  Boil a large pot of water and add a teaspoon of salt and half a teaspoon of turmeric to it.  Once boiled – add the pasta shells and cook for 6-7 minutes and drain the water.  Allow these to cool.

2.  Cook the spinach in minimum water.  Add salt to taste and 3 cloves of garlic to the spinach.  Once the spinach softens, blend it using a hand held blender.  Add the ricotta cheese to it and mix well. Once cooled, fill the shells with the mixture.3.  Heat the passata.  Add salt and 2-3 gloves of garlic using a garlic press.  Allow this cook for 5-6 minutes.  Spread it in a baking tray and place the filled shells on top of the red sauce. Try not to squash the shells and use two trays if you don’t have a large baking tray.  Any tomato sauce mixture or filling left should be used up by spreading the sauce on the shells.4.  Using a hand blender, blend the plain flour and milk and keep it on a medium heat to boil – stirring regularly to stop it sticking to the bottom.  Once – Nice and thick, add the nutmeg and spread it over the pasta shells. 5.  Sprinkle the grated cheese and oregano over the white sauce.  Cover with foil and cook for 20 minutes on a medium oven – 170 degrees C or 325 degrees F or Gas mark 3.

6.  After 20 minutes, remove the foil and allow it to cook for 5-6 minutes.7.  Serve the shells hot with roast potatoes or any vegetables of your choice.

What fillings do you use for your giant pasta shells?

Other pasta recipes you may like from my blog are :

• Cannelloni – Spinach, mixed veg and ricotta cheese Cannelloni with tomato and béchamel sauce
• Cannelloni – Mixed Vegetables and Three Cheese Cannelloni