A typical dish of traditional Italian cuisine, perfect for Sunday lunch. Here's how to prepare delicious baked pasta shells
At Sunday lunch there are dishes that are real must-haves: le lasagna, i stuffed cannelloni, but also the baked pasta, that is, pasta "pasticciata" with meat sauce and then au gratin in the oven. Real delicacies!
A much more scenic variant, but equally tasty are the baked pasta shells, or conchiglioni stuffed with meat sauce and stringy cheese.
Do you want to impress your guests with this inviting single dish? Below we provide you with the recipe complete with ingredients and procedure, while in our gallery we give you some suggestion for variations to try.
Baked pasta shells: the ingredients
To prepare the baked pasta shells, you need: 300 g of conchiglioni, 600 g of tomato sauce, 30 g of Parmesan cheese, 60 g of golden onions, 125 g of minced pork, 400 g of cow's ricotta, 1 egg , 125 g of ground beef, 250 g of mozzarella, 45 g of red wine, salt and pepper to taste, extra virgin olive oil to taste, 1 clove of garlic.
Baked pasta shells: the process
Let's start by preparing the sauce. Chop the onion finely, then fry it in a pan with a drizzle of oil. Add the tomato sauce, salt to taste and then cook on a low flame for about 40 minutes, covering with the lid. If the sauce dries too much, add some water. Meanwhile, cut the mozzarella into 7 thin slices; the remaining part, cut it into cubes.
Now it's up to meat: in a pan brown the garlic clove in a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, then add the two types of ground beef. Brown them, letting the bottom dry, but without making the meat stick.
Meanwhile, put the pasta water on the fire and bring to the boil. Once the meat sauce is dry, blend with the red wine, season with salt, thicken the liquids and turn off the heat.
Boil the conchiglioni, or rather drain them halfway through the cooking time. Put them in a pan, finish cooking them with a little oil, then put them on a tray, leaving them to cool.
Now it's up to stuffed: in a bowl add ricotta, diced mozzarella, meat, grated Parmesan cheese, beaten egg, salt and pepper. Stir until you get a mixture with which you will have to go to fill each shell.
In a baking dish, place a first layer of tomato sauce, then stuff the conchiglioni and place them on the tomato base. Once the surface is completed, veil the conchiglioni with other tomato sauce, garnish with mozzarella slices, other grated Parmesan cheese and a sprinkling of pepper. Preheat the oven to 220 ° C and bake for about 20 minutes. Serve hot.
