Mushroom Stuffed Pasta Shells
We occasionally buy a cookbook that is on sale. One we picked up from a Costco book table was an enormous British tome: 1000 Low Fat Recipes. Although it seemed a good deal, in reality this is the only recipe in the book that I adapted and made more than once. The original recipe called for large tube shaped cannelloni pasta, but I found that large shell pasta are easier to fill. This makes a hearty vegetarian (vegan, even) main course dish.
Ingredients:
8 oz largest size shell pasta
About 1 lb of crimini (brown cap) mushrooms, diced into small pieces (can substiture white
button mushrooms if crimini aren't available)
5-6 garlic cloves, chopped
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 teaspoon dry thyme or 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/3 to 1/2 cup white wine
1 cup Italian bread crumbs
24 oz Jar of meatless spaghetti sauce or marinara sauce
2 or 3 teaspoons of sugar
1) Cook shell pasta about 7 minutes in boiling water, drain, toss with a dash of olive oil to keep shells from sticking to each other, and put aside.
2) In a large pot with lid, braise chopped garlic cloves and onion in white wine on medium heat for 5-7 min, until onion starts to become transparent, then add thyme and nutmeg and cook another 2 minutes.
3) Add diced mushrooms, cover and braise another 5 to 10 min, until mushrooms turn soft.
4) Take the pot off heat, add bread crumbs and mix with onions and mushrooms. Let stuffing cool for about 10-15 minutes.
5) Preheat oven to 400 oF. Lightly grease, using margarine or olive oil, a 9 inch x 13 inch (or a 10 inch square) baking dish; glass or ceramic prefered.
6) Stuff each cooked pasta shell with the mushroom-bread crumb mixture, using about 1 tablespoon of mix per shell. Arrange stuffed shells in the greased dish. If some pasta shells are left over, tear into pieces and place around the stuffed shells.
7) Mix spaghetti sauce with sugar, pour evenly over stuffed pasta shells in dish.
8) Cover dish with aluminum foil and bake for about 35-40 min. Uncover and serve with a green vegetable side dish such as asparagus or peas, or a tossed salad, and the rest of the wine!
Serves 3- 4