Baked Shells With Fresh Spinach And Pancetta Recipes

Steps:

• In a heavy medium nonreactive saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons butter. Add the heavy cream and tomato puree and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to moderately low and simmer until reduced to 2 1/4 cups, about 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in 1/4 cup of the Parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper.
• In a large skillet, cook the pancetta in the remaining 2 tablespoons butter over moderately high heat until slightly crisp, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the spinach in batches and cook, tossing, until wilted. Season with salt and pepper.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cook the pasta shells in a large pot of rapidly boiling salted water until barely al dente, about 7 minutes. Drain.
• Toss the pasta with the creamy tomato sauce and the spinach. Spoon it into a 3-quart shallow buttered baking dish. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese on top and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until piping hot.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Shells:.
• Boil large pot of salted water over high heat.
• Add pasta and cook until tender but firm to bite, 8-10 minutes.
• Drain pasta.
• Warm olive oil in large skillet over medium heat.
• Add pancetta, cook until lightly golden, about 5 minutes.
• Remove pancetta with slotted spoon to large bowl, let cool.
• Add spinach, ricotta and asiago cheeses, pepper and nutmeg to bowl.
• Stir to combine.
• Stuff shells with about 2 TBS. of spinach mixture.
• Place shells in large buttered baking dish.
• Sauce:.
• Melt butter in medium saucepan.
• Add garlic and cook for 1 minute.
• Add cream and simmer.
• Turn heat to very low and add 2 cups of asiago cheese, parsley, and pepper.
• Stir until cheese is melted.
• Pour sauce over shells.
• Top with remaining 1/4 cup asiago cheese.
• Bake until golden on top, about 25 minutes.
• Remove and serve immediately.

Steps:

• Make the sauce: Heat the olive oil in a large wide pot over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, oregano, red pepper flakes, 1/2 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook, stirring, until thickened, 15 to 20 minutes; season with salt. (You should have about 4 heaping cups of sauce.)
• Make the stuffed shells: Preheat the oven to 375˚ F. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta shells and cook as the label directs for baking, about 9 minutes. Rinse under cold water to stop the cooking. Spread out on a baking sheet.
• Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the spinach and cook, tossing occasionally, until wilted, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove to a large plate lined with a kitchen towel. Squeeze to remove any excess liquid, then finely chop.
• Put the spinach in a large bowl and add the ricotta, mozzarella, parsley, Parmesan, lemon zest, beaten egg, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Stir until combined.
• To assemble, spread about half of the sauce in the bottom of a 10-by-14-inch baking dish. Evenly fill the shells with the spinach-ricotta mixture using a spoon, or pipe it in using a pastry bag. Arrange the shells side by side, open-side up, in the baking dish on top of the sauce, then top with the remaining sauce.
• Cover the dish with foil and bake until heated through and the sauce is simmering around the edges, about 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake until any shells or cheese poking through the sauce are lightly browned in spots, about 10 more minutes. Let sit 10 minutes. Top with more Parmesan and red pepper flakes.

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of water to a boil over medium heat. Salt the water, add the shells and cook for 2 to 3 minutes less than the package directions. Heads up: Remove and reserve 1 cup of cooking water just before draining.
• Meanwhile, heat a medium-sized pot or high-sided skillet over medium heat with the extra-virgin olive oil. Add the onions and garlic and saute for 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the spinach, pulling it apart as you add it, and season with a little freshly grated nutmeg and salt, and pepper, to taste. When the spinach mixture is warmed through, transfer it to a small dish and reserve. Return the pot to the heat, add the butter and let it melt. Stir in the tomatoes and break them up with a spoon. Season with salt and pepper, to taste, add the basil leaves, and cook to thicken the sauce, about 7 to 8 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Drain the pasta and return it to the hot pot. To the pasta, add the spinach, reserved pasta cooking water, ricotta cheese, and half of the Parmigiano-Reggiano. Adjust the salt and pepper, to taste, and transfer it to a baking dish. Top the pasta mixture with the tomato sauce, mozzarella, and remaining Parmigiano. Bake until the cheeses are melted and bubbly, 6 to 8 minutes. Remove the shells from the oven and serve.

Steps:

• Heat a large skillet over medium. Add pancetta; cook until crisp, 4 to 6 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer pancetta to a paper-towel-lined plate; reserve fat in skillet.
• Add as much spinach as will fit in skillet; season with salt and pepper. Cook, tossing spinach and adding more as it wilts. Continue to cook until tender, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat, and pour off excess liquid; stir in lemon juice. Top with pancetta.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Heat 3 tablespoons oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add onions; season with salt and pepper. Cover; cook until onions are soft and release liquid, 15 minutes. Uncover; raise heat to medium. Cook, stirring, until onions are browned, 20 to 25 minutes. Stir in 1 teaspoon rosemary.
• Meanwhile, cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water 2 minutes less than package instructions suggest. Drain, reserving 1 1/2 cups cooking water. Return pasta to pot.
• Stir squash and reserved pasta water into onions; simmer 2 minutes. Toss squash mixture and 1/2 cup Parmesan with pasta. Transfer to prepared dish.
• Combine bread cubes with remaining Parmesan, rosemary, and oil; season with salt and pepper. Top pasta with bread cubes; bake until golden brown, 10 to 15 minutes.