Better than Mom's Stuffed Shells Recipe

my mom makes this recipe every single easter and it's good it's a solid recipe but i think i can take it to the next level this is the superior stuffed shells recipe everyone needs [Music] in the u.s this is much more of a special occasion recipe or even for holidays but in sicily this is an extremely common dish that you would serve up for lunch or dinner on sundays it's incredibly delicious not too hard to do here we go to start off with some prep sound good let's go you know the routine we are going to small dice up a yellow onion you could of course use a sweet or white onion here after you slice off the end slice it in half remove that outside peel just simply small dice them and set them to the side next we need to finely mince up some garlic oh wait a minute what is that we just stop for a second and celebrate i found my garlic press it was in the back of my junk utensil drawer shoved up underneath some things but i got it so let's use it we are gonna run two whole garlic cloves right through this garlic press i'm so glad i found this thing get all that goodness into a bowl next i have five ounces of baby spinach this equates about four cups of very packed baby spinach we are just gonna roughly chop this all over it does not need to be perfect in any way set it to the side in a bowl let's grab the onion and the garlic that we prepped up head over to your cooktop i have a large round dough pot you can use a large pan we are going to add in two tablespoons of olive oil turn the heat to medium next let's add those onions in there the goal here is to get a nice light brown on them get them translucent this takes about 10 minutes stir occasionally until it looks just like this perfect at this point we are going to add in the finely minced garlic that we ran through the press you know my philosophy once you can smell it it's done maybe a minute or so perfect at this point we're gonna add in eight ounces of sweet italian sausage followed up with eight ounces of ground meat i'm using 85 15 lean to fat ratio let's turn the heat up to medium-high the reason we're doing this because we want to get a nice little sear on all of that meat it's just going to help add to the flavor make sure to use the spoon to sort of chop it up into small little bite-sized pieces i'll tell you later why we need to do this once it is cooked through and lightly brown we're going to grab that baby spinach and pour all that goodness in there now the beautiful thing about baby spinach is that it cooks very very quickly so once it's in there begin to move it around maybe after 30 to 45 seconds the spinach will start to wilt and look just like this let's stop the cooking process immediately transfer that pan over to a plate or a platter we're gonna spread all of this goodness on there this is just to help cool it more quickly instead of putting in a bowl where it's stacked up we're going to the refrigerator put it in there until it is completely cool don't worry we've got a lot of other stuff to do i've got a large pot of boiling water be sure to salted so that it's as salty as the ocean next we're going to add in one 12 ounce package of jumbo shells also known as conquilier the reason we're using this whole package is because some of them will rip and tear in the cooking process what should leave us with plenty to stuff up gently and i mean very gently stir these because again they will want to rip and tear so after about eight to nine minutes or according to the package instructions let's give them a quick drain and you could rinse them gently under cold water but i'm a little nervous so i'm going to dunk them in a cold ice water bath to chill them this is only going to take like 30 seconds seriously they chill so dang quick now what we're going to do is just spread them out on a sheet tray lined with parchment paper no need for oil they will not stick with each other and at this point once they look just like this just simply set them to the side now if you see some other recipes out there they just use usually a tomato sauce now i'm going in with two sauces a red sauce and a white sauce the first one is my pomodoro sauce if you haven't seen it check out that video if not here's a quick recap two tablespoons of olive oil in a round dough pot medium high heat one finely grated peeled yellow onion cook for 10 minutes or until lightly browned like this next add in four finely minced garlic cloves cook for one minute or until it becomes very fragrant next add five pounds of fresh tomatoes or 328 ounce cans of san marzano tomatoes to a blender blend on high speed until smooth next remove the lid then we're going to pour all of this pureed tomatoes right to that round dough pot be sure to take that blender and run some water on there and pour it back in there there's a lot of goodness in there cook for 30 minutes or until reduced by about 25 add 15 to 20 fresh basil leaves season well with salt and fresh cracked black pepper stir until the basil leaves are mixed in which infuses a lot of flavor then set it to the side and keep it warm and yes i always make the full batch it freezes super well and it's in so many of my italian recipes why not just pull it out of the freezer and use it exactly now for the bechamel sauce you can see it in its entirety in my lasagna bolognese or i'm gonna quickly show you how to do it right now medium sized pot four tablespoons of unsalted butter turn the heat to low once it becomes melted like this we're going to add in six tablespoons of all-purpose flour grab a whisk and whisk everything until it is completely mixed to form a roux at this point we're gonna add in four cups of whole milk be sure to use whole milk here turn the heat up too high what this will do will activate the roux be sure to whisk for the first minute or two until it becomes very thick once it's boiling just like this turn the heat down to low next half onion use a small knife cut a slit in the top add in one bay leaf to that little slice next we're going to add in one clove just push it in there take that whole onion we are going over the pot let's add it in there we're just going to cook it in there for maybe 15 minutes to infuse the flavor at this point season with salt cracked white pepper and a little bit of nutmeg stir it in until completely mixed in then at this point strain through a fine mesh strainer or a chinwa scrape it push it through make sure you get all that goodness out and then keep it warm next to the pomodoro sauce the sauces are finished up and let me just encourage you taste it see how flavorful they are and how many amazing different dishes they could go in okay now a stuffing time we need two tablespoons of roughly chopped fresh basil or about 10 to 15 large basil leaves just chop them add them to a large bowl now what we need to do is cut up some mozzarella instead of shredded mozzarella i like to use a whole block of mozzarella and what we're gonna do is small to medium size dice it make sure those knife cuts are perfect here and i'll explain why shortly once it is cut up we're only going to take half of it and add it to this mixture reserve the other half now what we want to do at this point is go grab the cooled sausage ground meat spinach onions garlic mixture and add it right to this bowl and for any of those folks out there that want to keep this vegetarian obviously do away with the meat and replace it with one cup of that chopped up mozzarella you're welcome here's what we do now add in 16 ounces of cold whole milk ricotta to this mixture we're now gonna add in one cup of finely grated parmesan cheese one large egg and at this point be sure to season this very very well with sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper do not skip out on this this is your stuffing and all your flavor use a spoon or rubber spatula and mix everything until it is completely combined now you have a few options here the first one you can use a smaller spoon and stuff up each shell just like this this works excellently you know me i'm gonna take it to the next chef level i always learned how to do this by putting the stuffing into a piping bag that i just cut the end off of there's no tip for this just add half of it right to that piping bag that's all that will fit in here and then give it a twist at the end what this will do is push all that stuffing down to the bottom absolutely perfect now grab a shell and simply pipe it all in there until it's completely full just like this add it to the side to a sheet tray lined with parchment paper until all the shells are completely stuffed up everything is finished now it is assembly time and here is how i do it you're gonna add about two cups of the pomodoro sauce right to a very large thirteen by nine casserole dish you may want to add a little more completely up to you spread it out so that it's evenly on the bottom next i'm gonna add in a cup to a cup and a half of that bechamel sauce there is no rhyme or reason for how to pour this on just put it however you'd like now add in those stuffed shells right on top of the sauces in the casserole dish line them up right next to each other now i have about seven to eight extra shells totally fine this actually freezes very well for up to three months covered i'm just gonna add them with a little more sauce to a separate small casserole dish now what you can do is add on a little bit more pomodoro and a little bit more bechamel if you'd like then i have about three quarters cup of shredded parmesan cheese sprinkle that all over the top and then remember that leftover cut up mozzarella yeah that's not going to waste at all my friends we are going to sprinkle that all over the top going to the oven at 425 degrees fahrenheit it's gonna take in between 25 and 30 minutes for this to be nice and browned up those fundamental basics i say it all the time they're so important from cutting a vegetable to pan searing something to making a sauce when you do these things over and over again it will guarantee to elevate your everyday cooking and that is what i'm all about let's pull this thing out of the oven and plate it up this smells incredible seriously if you guys don't make this you are crazy look at that bubbling goodness we are gonna finish it off with some fresh chopped parsley and if you want a little bit of fresh chopped basil of course let's take a scoop out and see what we're working with here just so good so comforting and always brings me back to when my mom makes it on easter and if you love this oh my gosh you have got to try my spaghetti pasta carbonara it is insanely delicious and i'll see you there [Music]

Channel: Chef Billy Parisi

Views: 44,824

Keywords: how to make stuffed shells, stuffed shells with ricotta, stuffed shells recipe, stuffed shells, ricotta stuffed shells, sausage stuffed shells, stuffed shells with ground beef, stuffed shells with ricotta and spinach, how to make stuffed shells with ricotta cheese, pasta, conchiglie, chef billy parisi, billy parisi, chef billy

Id: xLgUyB6k6P0

Length: 10min 47sec (647 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 13 2022