by Lea Hogg
This is a healthy pasta dish, shells filled with a mix of broccoli, hazelnuts and ricotta and baked in the oven to make a surprisingly light dish.
I used 10 giant pasta shells and this serves 2 to 3 persons.
You will need:
10 pasta shells. Boil plenty water with a bit of salt and when it reaches boiling point drop the shells into the water gently. Lower the heat to a gentle boil and after 2 minutes lift out.
75g uncooked broccoli
50g hazelnuts
100g ricotta
1 egg (optional, you can leave them out and they still work well without the egg)
One tablespoon freshly grated parmesan [or hard Maltese gbejna]
salt and freshly ground pepper
Combine the above 5 ingredients in a food processor until you have a thick paste
Fill the pasta shells using a piping bag or a teaspoon.
You will then need 3 tablespoons of polenta in a flat dish. Dip each shell, filling side down, to seal the filling.
You will also need some simple prepared tomato sauce and you can prepare this the day before following your usual recipe or you can make it quickly gently sweating half an onion, one clove garlic, both finely chopped, add a can of tomatoes, cook on low heat for 10 minutes. Add half a glass of wine if you wish. Season with salt, freshly ground pepper and some dried oregano.
Place the sauce in an oven proof dish and arrange the filled pasta shells facing down on top of the sauce.
To make the white parsley and cheese sauce use 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Add 500 ml milk and 100g of mascarpone (optional and still good if you leave it out) and a bay leaf. When it starts to boil lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes, then add 2 tablespoons of grated parmesan and season with salt and pepper.
Pour over the pasta shells. If you leave the mascarpone out, allow the dish to rest for 15 to 20 minutes before baking. This allows the pasta to absorb some of the liquid ingredients, improving on texture and flavour. At this stage you can also freeze the dish and bake it when you are going to use it. It keeps well in the freezer for 3 months.
And bake at 170C for 25 minutes. Allow to rest for 10 minutes before serving.
I use Pasta Rummo, fresh vegetables by Big Fresh Mosta and Barbuto [organic], hazelnuts, herbs and spices by Lamb Brand canned tomatoes by X-tra and olive oil by Filippo Berio at Rimus Group ‘.
Happy Memorial Day. That dish looks so delicious. I will make this or better yet have Brian Emmett make it for me.
Hope you had a lovely day Nancy, yes you mist get Brian to make it for you ! Have a great weekend !
Oh, I’ve made these before with my youngest daughter, but just with ricotta. The addition of broccoli and hazelnuts must be absolutely wonderful.
hi Lidia, I am loving hazelnuts at the moment and the addition to this dish was marvellous ! Thank you for your comment !
What a wonderful idea for stuffed shells.
Thank you Jovina, do try it with starting with the raw vegetables, i think you will like it !
The filling sounds really tasty ☺️ Happy Memorial Day xx
thank you Elaine, do let me know if you try it !
xx
Thank you!
Thanks for visiting Pam !
Looks so yum and cute! 🙂
Thank you Priya, I love the raw broccoli inside that just become perfectly cooked and retain their color…nice to hear from you !
Reblogged this on Ace Food and Health News 2014 and commented:
#AceRecipeNews – Nice Really Nice 🙂
Thank you so much, so appreciate !
Welcome nice tribute to Memorial Day 🙂
your recipes are always delicious and very interesting,thank you Lea Hogg.
thank you Annie x