Pasta Shells

  My mum brought something similar to this over for a potluck a while back and they were the crowd favourite. So when my best friend  who lives in a gluten free flat came down to stay I thought I'd try and recreate it as a special carby treat.

 This is exceedingly simple to make, just a little bit fiddly to stuff. Exercising self control and waiting to photographing the final result on the other hand is profoundly difficult. 

Recipe. 

1 packet of giant pasta shells 

Filling. 

oil for cooking

2 zucchini chopped

1 cup of chopped mushrooms 

1 shallot minced 

2 cloves of garlic minced 

2 cups chopped silverbeet

zest of a lemon 

tub of creme fraiche 

pinch of nutmeg

1/2 grated parmesan 

S&P 

Tomato Sauce. 

2 tins of chopped tomatoes 

1 tbsp brown sugar 

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

4 tbsp of pesto

Preheat oven to 165 degrees. 

To make the sauce combine everything in a sauce pan and simmer until a rich dark colour.  Layer 1/4 on the bottom of a baking tray.  

Boil the pasta shells until el dante in a big pot of salted boiling water. Strain and layer on top of the sauce in the pan. 

For the filling sauté shallot, garlic, zucchini and mushrooms until collapsing and soft. Stir through the silver beet with a tbsp of water, cover and steam for five minutes. Scrape the vege mix and all of the remaining ingredients into a blender and give it a quick whizz (you want it to still be  a little lumpy). 

Stuff the pasta shells with the filling by which ever means you find easiest. Fill the tray with remaining sauce, add water until the shells are almost completely covered. 

Throw in the oven for around 20 minutes.

Certainly don't get carried away chatting and leave them in for 40.

Whoops.   

x 

Abbey