Spinach and Ricotta Stuffed Seashells (aka wannabe cannelloni)
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion, chopped finely
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 3 large tomatoes, chopped
- 700 ml passata
- 2 cups water
- 1/2 tbsp Italian seasoning, basil, or oregano
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar, optional
- 500 g large sea shell pastas (conchiglioni) or cannelloni
- 950 g frozen chopped spinach, thawed and liquids squeezed out
- 500 g full fat ricotta cheese
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese, separated into 2 halves
- Pinch of nutmeg, preferably freshly grated
- 1 cup shredded cheeses, i used mozzarella and cheddar
Instructions
- In a large pot, heat the olive oil and add the onion. Cook it until it becomes translucent. Then add the garlic and continue cooking for about 2 minutes. Add the chopped tomatoes, cook for another 2 minutes and then add the passata. Add Italian seasoning, basil, or oregano. Fresh basil would be nice here, if you have some you can add that too. Season with salt and pepper and taste. If you feel your sauce needs a certain tanginess, you can add a teaspoon of balsamic vinegar. Add the 2 cups of water as you want the sauce to be quite runny. Boil it, cover it and continue cooking on low for 15 minutes.
- Take your thawed spinach and squeeze the water out of it, no need to go overboard with squeezing, just get the majority of the liquid out. Then in a bowl, mix the spinach with the ricotta, half a cup of Parmesan, an egg, the salt and pepper, and some freshly grated nutmeg. I like to mix them by hand, wearing a glove, but a spoon can work too. Notice that there is double the amount of spinach as there is ricotta, this makes the dish very filling and not as heavy as it could be (don’t use more ricotta than that).
- Now the best way to fill the seashells or the cannelloni is by using a piping bag. Doing this with a spoon is way too time consuming and you’ll hate me for it. So use a piping bag, and if you don’t have one, use a somewhat large ziplock back and cut the tip. Fill them generously. The filling should be enough for 500 g of pasta. If you do happen to have leftover filling, you can add them to your eggs for a yummy omelet.
- Then you will need 2 oven dishes for this amount. Start with layering some sauce on the bottom and then place the seashells (or cannelloni) on top. Try fitting them closely next to each other and not on top of each other. Then add about 1 cup total of shredded cheeses and the half cup of Parmesan (generous, but not overly generous you don’t want it to be too heavy) and add the remaining tomato sauce on top. Don’t worry if you feel there’s a lot of liquid as the pasta needs those liquids to cook and most of it will be absorbed later
- Cover the 2 oven dishes with aluminum foil and cook them for 20 minutes in a preheated oven at 180 degrees C . Then remove the foil, and continue cooking for another 20 minutes.
Notes
This makes a lot, we ate it over 2 days (happily so). But if you feel it’s too much you can half the recipe and still use 1 egg in the filling. You can also make the whole quantity and freeze the rest for a busy day. I’d eat leftovers of this any day of the year!!
If you make this do let me know, I’d love to hear from you. And if you have any questions or comments write them below. See you soon!