I just love pasta shells filled with ricotta and baked in a tomato meat sauce. I think we may have stolen this from the Italians but I am sure they don’t mind. Our food has been influenced from many cultures including Italian. Traditionally instead of mince beef/pork, corned beef is used. I love corned beef but don’t have it very often. I actually don’t think I have ever had it while I have lived in London which has been ten years but I remember eating it in Australia. My father loved it. More on corned beef another time though.
Try and get the largest shells you can find. I use conchiglioni pasta. They don’t look that large when you buy them but once cooked they expand. Another option is to add spinach to the ricotta mixture but I haven’t this time.
We had this last night (Friday evening) but it is a great Sunday lunch option. This should feed the family for two meals and you can freeze half of it if you wish and serve another time.
- For the tomato sauce:
- 2 tbp olive oil
- 1 onion finely diced
- 2 cloves garlic finely diced
- 500 g beef mince (use either pork, a combination or even canned corned beef)
- 1 large 700 ml jar passata
- 2 cans chopped tomatoes
- 750 ml water boiled
- salt and pepper
- For the pasta shells:
- 500 g large pasta shells (I use conchiglioni pasta)
- 900 g ricotta
- 100 g grated cheese
- 3 eggs lightly beaten
- small bunch parsley chopped
- ½ tsp nutmeg
- salt and pepper
- Additional:
- 100 g grated cheese
- 200 ml boiling water
- In a frying pan fry the oil, onion and garlic for 5 min or until lightly golden.
- Add the mince and cook for a further 10 min until browned.
- Add the passata, cans of chopped tomatoes and some seasoning. Bring to the boil and then simmer gently for 30 min.
- While the sauce is simmering prepare the shells.
- Mix together the ricotta, eggs, cheese, parsley, nutmeg and salt and pepper.
- Fill the shells with the ricotta mixture and place with the round part of the shell down in an oven dish
- Preheat oven to 180oC.
- Add the boiled water to the sauce and mix. Pour gently over the pasta shells.
- Cook in the oven for 1 hr.
- When 15 min left are remaining place 200 ml boiled water over the shells and scatter the cheese over the top of the shells.
- Cook for the remaining 15 min. Check to see if the pasta shells have been cooked and if necessary place in the oven for a further 15 min.