Years ago when I was going through and copying recipes from my mom's collection I happened upon a recipe for Avocado-stuffed Shells. To be honest there was a part of me that always thought this sounded a bit weird. I associate avocado with Mexican food and served cold, not Italian food served warm. So, I avoided this recipe in my card file. Although I did take the time to write it down so I thought I should try it. I believe this was a recipe that hails back to my grandmother, but I am not 100% sure. If it does she was a head of her time living in Wisconsin mixing avocados in with Italian food. I wish she would have lived longer because she loved to cook and even could have been considered a gourmet. But, I smile knowing that even if she did not live long enough to teach me how to cook and give me advise, I know I inherited her love of cooking and she is looking down from heaven hopefully smiling! If I ever do find out the whole story I will be sure to share along with my recipe tweaks!
What I Needed:
Shredded Mozzarella
Ricotta CheeseAvocados
basil and oregano
Large Pasta Shells
Basic Marinara Sauce
(see Recipe below for exact amounts)
What I Did:
Boil water in a large pot with a little oil in it. Cook 20 (plus a few extra) of the shells for 2 minutes under the al dente cook time. You really don't want to over cook the shells. They will be impossible to fill without loosing structural integrity. When you bake this dish you the noodles will continue to soften a bit so you won't be crunching into dry pasta shells.
Drain the water and rinse the shells in a colander with cold water and let them sit to cool down a bit. Best not to handle these straight out of boiling water unless you want burned finger tips!
While the noodles are cooking/cooling mix up the cheeses, avocado and herbs. Then when the shells are significantly cooled fill each one with a spoonful of the cheese/avocado mixture.
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| Stuffed Shells! |
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| In for the close up! See the bits of avocado....mmmmmm! |
Once all the shells are stuff cover with a Basic Marinara sauce
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| This should look familiar! (If not see previous post) |
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| All smothered! |
The last 5 minutes turn the boiler on low and toast the top. Please don't wander away during this step. It is only 5 minutes and broilers left unattended like to burn food to a crisp!
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| Resting for it gets served |
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| And in for the close up! |
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| Gorgeous! |
We paired this dish with some asparagus. But a nice green salad or some other greenery would be equally good!
Happy Eating!
~ Recipe ~
1 cup grated mozzarella cheese (low moisture - don't go breaking out the Buffalo!)1/2 lbs (8 oz) Ricotta cheese
2 ripe medium Hass/Fuerte avocados (just not the West Indian Varietals! aka Florida Avocados) - diced
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp white ground pepper
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp dried basil
20 Large pasta Shells (Conchiglie)
Basic Marina
Grated Mozzarella for on top
9" x 13" pan
Combine cheeses, avocado, salt, pepper, oregano and basil in a boil. Cook shells in a large pot of boiling water with a touch of oil until just starting to soften*. Drain and rinse the shells with cold water. Handling carefully, fill each shell with a spoonful of the cheese and avocado mixture. Arranging them in the 9"x13" pan. Cover the shells with Basic Marinara Sauce. Bake in a pre-heated 350 F oven for 25 minutes. Top with shredded mozzarella and bake for another 10 minutes. To brown the cheese on top, broil on low for NO more than 5 minutes (best to just keep an eye on the oven for this time!). Let the dish rest for 5 minutes before serving!
*Best to go a minute or two under the cooking time because you will be baking this dish and it is hard to fill the shells without ripping them!
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