For the hot summer weekends, we have an easy and healthy recipe to share with You.
These pasta shells are flavored with spinach, mozzarella, ricotta, and parmesan, spiced with basil leaves, olive oils, and garlic.
Pasta Shells
Ingredients
For the tomato sauce
720 gr whole canned tomatoes ( I used 480 gr regular tomatoes and 240 gr cherry tomatoes )
1 yellow onion
3 cloves of garlic
3 tbsp olive oil
½ tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp oregano
salt
For the pasta
19 shells ( around 250 gr pasta)
1 tbsp olive oil
3 garlic cloves
175 gr spinach
150 gr grated mozzarella
340 gr ricotta
50 gr grated parmesan cheese + more for serving
1 egg
1 tbsp basil leave + more for servin
Salt&pepper
Process
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For the sauce
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Place all the ingredients in a big pot. Bring to boil over medium-high heat then reduce the heat to simmering point.
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When tomatoes start to soften, mash them against the pot using back of a wooden spoon. Do the same with garlic.
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Simmer for around 30-40 minutes.
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When sauce has thickened, remove it from the heat. Discard the onion. Leave it as is or blend until smooth using hand held mixer. Salt to taste.
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For the pasta
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Preheat the oven to 180°C.
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Fill a large pot with water and bring to boil. Add pasta and cook until al dente. Drain but keep some water behind. In case any pasta shells are stuck together you can easier pull them apart with some of the pasta water.
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Chop garlic finely and spinach roughly.
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Add oil to a large pan. Turn heat to medium-high then add garlic and cook until fragrant. Add chopped spinach and cook until it starts to wilts but still stays bright green. This takes only a couple of minutes. If there is any liquid left in the pan, from spinach, discard it.
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Transfer spinach to a large bowl. Add ricotta, mozzarella, parmesan, salt, pepper, egg and basil leaves. Mix just until it comes together.
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Cover bottom of a baking dish (round 25 cm) with tomato sauce.
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Fill each pasta shell with about spoonful of filling add place them all on top of the sauce.
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Cover with another baking pan or aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the cover and bake for another 30 minutes or until pasta and the filling get some color.
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Serve warm with more grated parmesan, more basil leaves and more olive oil!
Author : Maja Månborg
