Maiming Pretty Pasta – In a Nut… Well, Stuffed Shell

For all of us whose kids don’t particularly clamor for spinach at the dinner table, Liren shares her recipe for prosciutto and spinach-stuffed conchiglie – though not before acknowledging how such gorgeously-shaped pasta won’t see the inside of an oven, that is, not before a split-second of regret from the esthete. They look as if picked up off the sea floor, not the food aisle, don’t you think?

New Yorker by birth, now living and writing out of the San Francisco Bay area, the Kitchen Confidante is Liren, “a mother of two and wife to one” with a bunch of recipes and cooking tips too hard-earned slaving over stoves not to blog about. With almost two years of food-blogging now under her belt, it’s clearly a labor of love that she won’t bring back into hiding under a bushel any time soon – or, bu-shell, while we’re on the subject! If you’re a lover of Italian cuisine, you’ll appreciate her blog all the more, now that she produces a way to make tasty-looking shells taste like heaven – fair warning though, these might well turn to mush in the process.

For 4 to 6 servings of Liren’s stuffed shells, you will need three main ingredients: 12 ounces of jumbo shell-shaped pasta, 10 ounces of fresh baby spinach and 6 ounces of thinly-sliced and finely-chopped prosciutto. Aside from that, also have close-by some whole milk ricotta, a lightly-beaten egg, a cup of grated parmesan cheese, half a teaspoon of fresh-ground black pepper, a cup of marinara sauce and half a cup of shred mozzarella cheese.

Proceed to cook the pasta as per usual (or, for first-timers, as per the instructions on the box), until it’s firm, or al dente. Cook and then chop the spinach, then add to it the prosciutto, the ricotta, the egg, the parmesan and the pepper and mix it up. The resulting blend is now ready to be crammed into each shell – your dainty-handed decorative skills will come in handy at this stage. After you’ve sprinkled the stuffed shells with mozzarella cheese, slide the baking tray into the oven and keep it in for 25 minutes. Best served hot!

(Source: KitchenConfidante.com)