Swiss Chard Stuffed Conchiglioni Shells
Conchiglioni is a stuffed shell pasta typically stuffed with ricotta and a meat or vegetable. Spinach is often used, but this recipe uses swiss chard.
About Conchiglioni Stuffed Shells Pasta
The term Conchiglioni comes form the Italian for shells or sea shells because the shape of the pasta looks like shells. The pasta is term is Pronounced con-KEEL-yay.
Conchiglioni is a southern Italy pasta dish from Campania and the town of Gragnano near Naples is particularly known for it and for making exceptionally good versions of the pasta shells used.
The larger size and shape of the shells makes the pasta perfect for stuffing and for paring with flavorful sauces. Nearly all Conchiglioni recipes will stuff the shells with some sort of tasty mixture and complete it with a sauce.
This recipe focuses on a ricotta and swiss chard mix and marinara sauce. Feel free to substitute spinach if you prefer instead of the chard. But I think the swiss chard makes it more interesting.
Serving Conchiglioni
Serve this pasta dish with a good crust bread or a salad.
Try our Crisp Artisan Flatbread Recipe.
For salads, try a traditional Italian Salad or our Artichoke Salad.
Swiss Chard Stuffed Conchiglioni Shells
Conchiglioni is a stuffed shell pasta with ricotta and marinara.
Ingredients
- 6 oz jumbo pasta shells or conchiglioni
- 1 lb Swiss chard, stemmed and leaves roughly chopped
- 2 medium garlic cloves, peeled and minced
- ½ medium yellow onion, finely chopped
- 1 large egg
- ¾ cup Parmesan cheese, finely grated
- 2 cups whole milk ricotta cheese
- 1 ½ cups marinara sauce
- ½ tsp dried oregano
- ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper, plus more if necessary
- 1 tsp sea salt, plus more as needed
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- ½ cup water
Instructions
- Warm up your oven to 375 degrees F with a rack positioned in its middle.
- Fill a large pot with water and stir in enough salt to make it heavily salted.
- Heat it over high flame until it starts boiling and drop in the conchioglioni.
- Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring periodically, until cooked al dente and tip them into a colander to drain.
- Wash them under cold running water and shake off excess water.
- Toss them into a medium bowl and keep aside until necessary.
- Heat a lashing of oil in a large skillet over moderate flame until it shimmers and throw in the garlic plus onions.
- Sprinkle the dried oregano, black pepper as well as ½ tsp salt over them and stir fry for about 5 minutes, or until the onions turn soft.
- Stir in the swiss chard and continue to sauté for another 5 minutes, tossing them relentlessly with a pair of tongs, until they turn limp and soft.
- Tip it into the cleaned colander and continue to toss as above at times, for about 10 minutes, or until it turns cool enough to handle.
- Place ¼ cup parmesan and all of the ricotta cheese in a large bowl and sprinkle ½ tsp salt over them.
- Crack the egg over the cheese and stir them all together until well mixed and set aside.
- Whisk the marinara sauce and water together in a separate bowl until mixed properly and set aside.
- Squeeze out the excess moisture from the swiss chard mixture and place them onto the chopping board.
- Chop them finely and toss them into the cheese mixture.
- Stir them all together until they blend thoroughly and sprinkle a dash each of seasonings to taste.
- Stuff the mixture into a large Ziploc bag, seal and clip off ½’ of one corner at its base.
- Empty a cup of the marinara sauce mixture on the base of a baking dish and set aside.
- Pipe small portion of the filling into each conchioglioni and arrange the stuffed shells onto the baking dish, with their open side facing up.
- Smother them with rest of the marinara sauce and wrap the surface loosely with a sheet of foil.
- Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the surface turns bubbly and peel off the foil before baking it further for another 10 minutes or until the surface browns slightly.
- Allow it to cool for about 5 minutes.
- Serve warm.
Last Updated on April 21, 2023 by Carleen
