Pasta dishes are considered everyday and fairly simple. However, even from them you can cook a real masterpiece that will decorate the holiday table. One of such dishes is shells with minced meat. Large pasta with filling and delicious sauce look quite unusual and appetizing.
Stuffed Shell Ingredients
First of all, large pasta is needed . They are also called concillions, lumaconi, cannelloni. Such a paste is widely used in Italy for the preparation of both main dishes and snacks and desserts. They happen in the form of tubes, shells. You need to take them about half a kilogram. As a filling in the classic recipe, use forcemeat (pork, beef, assorted). You also need to take 1 onion and 1 carrot. For meat filling, you need 1 egg. If we stuff shells according to a simple and widely known recipe, then we use sour cream, tomato paste, and greens for the sauce.
Cooking process
First of all, you need to cook the filling. Minced meat is salted, pepper, other spices and onions are added. Then they hammer an egg. So now we stuff the shells. It is important to put a little more minced meat, as it will decrease in volume during cooking. We put the pasta in a pan or baking dish and pour the sauce. Seashells must be completely covered. Stew until completely cooked pasta. For the first 20 minutes, the mold can be covered with foil. After about 40 minutes, the minced shells will be ready. They should be put on a plate and pour over the sauce. If desired, you can sprinkle with herbs or grated cheese.
Sauce for the dish
Stuffed pasta (shells) with minced meat goes well with Bechamel sauce. It’s easy to cook. To do this, in a pan, melt 150 grams of butter. You need to add 2 tablespoons of flour to it. Stir this mixture thoroughly and carefully pour in 150 grams of warm cream. It is important to ensure that no lumps form. The sauce should be salt and pepper. Another variation of the filling - from cheese and sour cream. Hard cheese should be grated and mixed with sour cream. Then you need to add a couple of tablespoons of wine and salt. Large stuffed shells can also be served with tomato filling. To prepare such a sauce, finely chopped onions, along with garlic, are fried in a small amount of oil. Then add diced tomatoes and a small amount of sour cream to the pan. Sauce must be thickened with flour. The main rule in the preparation of fillings for stuffed shells - it should be a lot. All pasta should be completely covered with sauce, otherwise the tips that will be outside will not be cooked.
Cooking features
Some housewives before stuffing shells, pre-boil them. This is necessary in order to reduce cooking time. In addition, if we stuff shells with salad or sweet filling, then, accordingly, they should be already cooked. To do this, pasta is boiled in a large pan, there should be enough space so that the shells do not stick together and do not stick to the walls of the dishes. You need to cook them for 10-12 minutes until al dente - so they remain elastic enough and do not lose shape. It is best to try one, so you can determine the state of readiness. Then the water is drained, the pasta is rinsed with cold water and spread on a large dish. So they should stand for a while and cool. You can cook stuffed shells in a slow cooker. Filled pasta is laid out in a bowl and poured with sauce. Then we set the “Baking” mode for 20 minutes, after this time we turn on the “Stewing” mode for 30-40 minutes. In general, for cooking large shells in a multicooker, you can use different modes, including steaming.
Seafood Pasta Stuffing
To diversify your diet, you can use shrimp as a filling. If we stuff shells with such a filling, then they should already be pre-boiled. Ready seafood must be peeled, finely chopped and mixed with squeezed garlic, grated cheese and herbs. This filling is sprayed with lemon juice and olive oil. Another filling option is from canned fish. Knead the sardine, pink salmon with a fork, add grated boiled egg, cheese (hard or processed) and mayonnaise. You can still finely chop the green onions. Shells are stuffed with all this. Fish fillet is also great. It is finely chopped, carrots and onions are added. Raw minced pasta is stuffed with such minced meat, poured with cream sauce and the dish is sent to the oven. Another variation is crab sticks and cream cheese.
Shells and ideas for stuffing
For the preparation of stuffed pasta, you can use any kind of cheese: cottage cheese, feta cheese. It is mixed with finely chopped herbs, garlic, if necessary, salted. Go well with cheese and nuts. If the filling (for example, from feta cheese) is a little dry, then add sour cream or yogurt. An original snack will turn out if you add finely chopped pickles to the cheese. You can use chicken for meat filling. It must first be boiled or fried with onions and carrots, you can add champignons. A great option for instant cooking - stuffing from sausage or ham. You can fry the onion and add chopped sausages to the pan for a few minutes. Then mix it all with grated hard cheese. In general, to prepare snacks with stuffed shells, you can use any topping or salads. The main thing is that their components are interconnected with sour cream, mayonnaise, cheese. Another version of the mincemeat is finely diced tomato, pepper, cucumber with olive oil.
We stuff shells with sweet filling
For sweets lovers, we recommend preparing the filling based on cottage cheese. You can add a variety of products to it: sugar or honey, vanilla, nuts, raisins, candied fruits, berries or fruits. So that the filling is not dry, one or two eggs are added to the curd. Shells are stuffed and laid out in a baking dish. Pour sour cream and put in the oven until the pasta is ready. Sprinkle sugar and cinnamon on top of them. Serve better when hot with jam or sour cream sauce.