STUFFED SPINACH & RICOTTA SHELLS WITH ROASTED TOMATO AND GARLIC SAUCE

Written By ruby williams
IMG_4799.jpg

INGREDIENTS:

  • 340g of ricotta cheese

  • 2 cups of baby spinach roughly chopped

  • 5 truss tomatoes

  • 6 cloves of garlic

  • 1 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil

  • 1/2 a cup of broccoli finely chopped

  • about 40g of tasty cheese grated (some for the stuffing and some for the top)

  • about 20 jumbo pasta shells (depending on dish size)

  • 1 egg

  • a handful of basil leaves

  • a few pinches of salt and pepper in both the sauce and stuffing

  • 3 tbsp of passata tomato puree

**optional add ins**

You could easily add extra vegetables into this dish, either in the sauce or the shells. some veggies that go well are

  • carrot

  • mushroom

  • zucchini

  • capsicum

Sometimes I like to add these to the sauce and puree them up for a smooth texture!

METHOD:

  1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius

  2. Cut up all tomatoes and 4 cloves of garlic (i kept the skin on), put them on a lined baking tray, and add a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil as well as some salt and pepper.

  3. Boil some water in a saucepan, once boiled add the pasta shells and cook until al dante (just soft) and set aside to cool

  4. Put the tomatoes and garlic in the oven and roast them for about 10-15 minutes

  5. Make the stuffing by adding the ricotta, spinach, broccoli, egg, about 25g of tasty cheese, 2 cloves of garlic finely minced/chopped and a little bit of salt and pepper.

  6. Combine all these ingredients - you can do this by storing them together but I found it easier and quicker to use my hands

  7. Once tomatoes and garlic are ready, squeeze the garlic out of their skin and place them and the tomatoes in a blender. Blend until your desired sauce consistency (I blended mine for about 5-10 seconds but this varies based on the blender)

  8. Pour the sauce in the dish and mix in some fresh basil and passata sauce.

  9. Stuff the pasta by adding roughly a tablespoon of the stuffing in each shell, then place in dish with the sauce.

  10. Sprinkle some cheese on top and cook for about 25-30 minutes or until the cheese on top is golden

  11. If desired add extra basil on top

    enjoy

Serves roughy 4 people

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION:

This dish is great for dinner as it will keep you full and satisfied due to containing lots of protein and fibre.

It contains resistant starch due to the cooked and cooled pasta. This keeps the gut healthy and helps you feel fuller for longer.

It is also protein rich with is good for building and repairing muscles.

it also contains a lot of micronutrients in particular minerals such as calcium which is important for bone growth and formation and iron which is important for transporting oxygen around the body via the red blood cells. And it also contains vitamin C which is important for the absorption of iron in the body and is involved in tissue repair.

ruby williams
Previous

MUSHROOM RISOTTO