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Baked Spinach, Ricotta and Herb Pasta Shells
Conchiglioni (large pasta shells) filled with a delicious, herby spinach and ricotta mixture and baked in a simple homemade tomato sauce. Serve bubbling from the oven for true comfort food!
This recipe calls for homemade sauce but in a pinch you could use your favourite store-bought sauce. I’d recommend going with the homemade version though. It’s more effort, yes, but I promise you it’s worth it!
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
- Category: Pasta, Vegetarian
Ingredients
Scale
For the sauce:
- extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 large onion, very finely chopped
- 3 large garlic cloves, minced
- 3 x 400g tins good-quality whole or crushed tomatoes
- 400 ml water
- 2 tsps sugar, optional
- 3 whole basil sprigs
For the filling:
- 520 g fresh spinach
- 250 g ricotta
- 75 g parmigiano reggiano, grated
- 1 small lemon, zest only
- 1 large egg
- 1 large garlic clove, grated
- 20 g fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
- 20 g fresh basil, finely chopped
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- 1 tsp freshly-ground black pepper
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
For the pasta:
- 300 g dried conchiglioni (large pasta shells)
- 1 large handful of grated parmigiano reggiano, to serve
Instructions
Step 1: the sauce
- You can skip this step if you’re using shop-bought sauce; I recommend making your own though! Heat a splash of extra-virgin olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and season with a good pinch of sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, around 5 minutes.
- Add the garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, 30 seconds to 1 minute, then add the tinned tomatoes, water, sugar (if using) and basil. Season with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper and stir to combine.
- Turn the heat up to medium-high and bring the sauce to a simmer then lower the heat to low, cover and cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Step 2: the filling
- While the sauce is simmering, bring a large pot of water to the boil and season generously with salt. Add the spinach and cook until it’s just wilted, around 2 minutes. Drain well and allow the spinach to cool. Squeeze out the liquid and roughly chop the spinach.
- Combine the chopped spinach with the remaining filling ingredients in a large bowl. Set aside.
- By now, the sauce should be done. Use a fork to fish out the basil stems from the sauce. Taste and adjust seasoning, to your liking, then set aside.
Step 3: pasta and assembly
- Heat your oven to 190℃ / fan 170℃. Bring a large pot of generously salted water to the boil.
- Add the pasta and cook for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally so it doesn’t stick. You want the pasta to be very al dente as it will cook further in the oven. Drain the pasta. Run it under cold water to stop the cooking process then drain again.
- Transfer the sauce to a 3 litre casserole dish or medium roasting tin (approx. 33 cm x 23 cm) and spread in an even layer.
- Use a teaspoon or tablespoon to pack each shell with the herby spinach and ricotta mixture and arrange the stuffed shells in a single layer. Bake for 20 to 25 mins, or until golden and bubbling. Top with grated parmigiano reggiano, serve and enjoy!
LOVED this recipe! me and my family just ate it up! Instead of boiling the shells first, I left the shells uncooked, stuffed them with the filling, covered them in the sauce, and baked for an hour 🙂
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!