Stuffed Conchiglie Rigate with Mozzarella, Ricotta and Tomato

A firm favourite in my house is stuffed Conchiglie rigate which is large pasta shells you can stuff with whatever you choose.

I prefer to stuff them with mozzarella, ricotta, tomato and then cover with a beautiful tomato, basil and oregano sauce. However you can stuff them with whatever you like. A simple mince and tomato sauce, cheeses and even vegetables and meat. There are so many herbs you can use, tarragon, basil. oregano, mint, rosemary and thyme.

Use a herb that works well for you.

So for this simple dish, I made this in a number of steps as outlined below:

Stuffed Conchiglie Rigate with Mozzarella, Ricotta and Tomato

Ingredients:

Conchiglie Rigate – 4/6 shells per person plus 2 for extra
2 Shallots
2 cloves of garlic
1 ball of Mozarella
Small bag of grated Mozarella
1 tub of ricotta
400g vine tomatoes
1 tin of 400g chopped tinned tomatoes
1/2 tsp oregano and 1/2 tsp basil
Handful of fresh basil – chopped
25g Parmesan – grated

Step 1: Cook the Pasta

Firstly I cook the pasta as it is much easier to fill. Depending on how thick they are, it’s around 20/30 minutes of boiling.
Fill a large pan of water and a touch of salt, when at boiling point, place in as many shells you need per person.
If eating them alone, 6 is a good number each. As part of a meal, 3/4. But also add a further 2 per person as spares as sometimes they can break.
Once cooked through until soft, strain and allow to cool a bit.

Step 2: Create the sauce

A very simple tomato sauce is all you need. Mine is a tin of tomatoes (I prefer chopped), garlic, shallots, oregano and basil.
Heat a pan with a little olive oil and place in shallots and garlic, until shallots are soft. Then add a tin of chopped tomatoes, half a tsp of oregano and basil (Dried) then cook through for 15 minutes.
You can add anything else you need, such as mince, fresh tomatoes, other herbs as needed and fresh basil near the end.

Another easy way is to use a jar of ready made pasta sauce, this is just as good if you want to cut down preparation time.

Step 3: Stuff your pasta

I stuffed mine this time with fresh mozzarella, ricotta and tomato. However you can use anything you desire.
Sometimes I stuff it with bolognaise, different cheeses or spinach/green beans and various vegetables.

So I take the shell and first put in half a table spoon of ricotta inside the shell, 2 strips of mozarella and 1 cherry vine tomato cut into quarters and stuffed inside.

Repeat for all shells serving 4-6 per person with spares in case some split during cooking.

Step 4: Set up the pasta to bake

I place them in a small pyrex dish, then top with a shaving of PArmesan, then top with the sauce, then cver with the grated mozarella.

Now baking, I bake this for 20 minutes to heat through the cheeses and make them lovely and melted.

Step 5: Serve!

You can eat this pasta a number of ways, with some wonderful bread, salad, chips, steak!

It can also be eaten alone as a wonderful dish too.

I do enjoy making a lot of different pasta dishes and this one is really simple, delicious and you can literally fill them with anything you like and topped with tomato, cheese or another type of sauce!

Top Tips For Stuffed Pasta

Always cook the pasta first so it is soft and pliable, this means it can be stuffed but also the pasta needs boiling so will be hard and uncooked if you pop it in the oven without preparing it first.

Anything you can throw on pasta, you can throw inside these and can change it to suit your tastes.

Herbs can be used again, to suit your tastes. Lemon and mint work well together. Basil and Parmesan or Oregano and Tomato.

Meats can be used, or vegetables! Create some wonderful dishes and try stuffing them in pasta if you have left overs, they make perfect side dishes!