Gourmet Shells Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 2-quart casserole dish with 1 teaspoon of olive oil.
• Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Add 1 teaspoon of the salt and the pasta shells, and cook until al dente, 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally with a long-handled spoon to prevent the shells from sticking together. Drain and rinse under cold running water. Drain.
• In a medium skillet, heat the remaining tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic and cook, stirring, until very soft, 6 to 7 minutes. Add the ground veal and cook, stirring, until cooked and browned. Add the squeezed spinach and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and season with salt and pepper.
• In a large bowl, combine the ricotta cheese, eggs, Parmesan cheese, and 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese. Add the spinach mixture, the extra-virgin olive oil, Essence, remaining teaspoon of salt, the basil, oregano, and pepper, and stir to combine thoroughly. Spoon about 2 tablespoons of the spinach-ricotta filling into each cooked pasta shell. Place the filled shells in the prepared dish.
• Pour the Basic Red Sauce over the filled shells and top with the remaining 1 cup of mozzarella cheese. Bake, uncovered, until bubbly, about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes before serving.
• Combine all ingredients thoroughly and store in an airtight jar or container.
• Recipe from "New New Orleans Cooking", by Emeril Lagasse and Jessie Tirsch. Published by William and Morrow, 1993.
• In a medium pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, salt, basil, oregano, and pepper, and cook, stirring, until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, water, and sugar and stir well. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Lower the heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, until thickened and fragrant, 25 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Remove from the heat and keep warm until ready to use.

Steps:

• Finely chop onion. Mince garlic. Drain tomatoes and reserve juice. Coarsely chop tomatoes.
• In a 12-inch skillet cook onion and garlic in oil over moderate heat until softened. Add tomatoes and reserved juice and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, 40 minutes, or until thickened. Stir in vinegar, sugar, and salt and pepper to taste. Remove skillet from heat and cool sauce. Tomato sauce may be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered.
• In a 5-quart kettle bring 4 quarts salted water to a boil for shells. In boiling water cook pasta until al dente and drain in a colander.
• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Drain tofu. Finely chop scallions. In a small bowl lightly beat egg.
• In a food processor blend tofu, scallions, egg, parsley, ricotta, and 1/2 cup mozzarella until smooth. Spread about 1 cup tomato sauce in a baking dish. Fill each pasta shell with about 1 tablespoon cheese mixture and arrange shells in one layer, cheese sides up, over sauce. Pour remaining tomato sauce over shells and sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup mozzarella. Bake shells in middle of oven 30 minutes, or until sauce is bubbling and cheese is melted.

Steps:

• Cook shells in a large pot of boiling salted water, stirring occasionally, until very al dente, about 9 minutes; drain. Run under cold water to stop the cooking; drain again.
• Meanwhile, heat oil in a large skillet over high. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until they release juices, then are dry again and nicely browned, 5-6 minutes; season with black pepper and 1 tsp. salt. Reduce heat to medium, add wine, and cook, stirring, until reduced by half, 1-2 minutes. Add spinach, cover, and cook until beginning to wilt, 1-2 minutes. Uncover and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until spinach is completely wilted and most of the liquid is evaporated, 2-4 minutes more. Transfer mushroom mixture to a large bowl; reserve skillet.
• Cook garlic and butter in reserved skillet over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until garlic is fragrant and beginning to brown, 2-3 minutes. Add marinara sauce and red pepper and bring to a simmer over low heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until warmed through, 6-8 minutes.
• While sauce cooks, add ricotta, 3 oz. Parmesan, 2 Tbsp. oregano, and remaining 1/2 tsp. salt to mushroom mixture and stir to combine. Spoon about 2 Tbsp. ricotta mixture into each shell. The shell should be filled to capacity but not overstuffed.
• Nestle stuffed shells into hot sauce in skillet. Cover and cook over medium heat until shells are warmed through, 4-6 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit 5 minutes. Sprinkle with Parmesan and remaining 1 Tbsp. oregano.