BAKED PASTA SHELLS WITH RICOTTA, SPINACH, LEMON & MOZZARELLA
I love the combination of spinach and ricotta! Always have, it’s a match made in heaven for me.
This recipe is usually one you can cook for the whole family and it gets eaten, no need to make second dinners!! Yippee!
Serves 6
Ingredients:
20-24 jumbo pasta shells
1.5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 brown onion, finely diced
2 cloves fresh garlic, finely chopped
3 cups fresh spinach leaves, roughly chopped
500g fresh ricotta cheese
1 lemon, zested
1 cup mozzarella cheese, grated
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
2 eggs
3 cups passata
1/2 bunch fresh basil, finely chopped (to serve)
Sea salt flakes
Black pepper
Method:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
Heat a large pot of salted water on high heat. Once boiling, add the large pasta shells and cook until al dente – don’t overcook the pasta, as it still needs to heat in the oven.
Heat a large frying pan over medium heat and add olive oil. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring for 3-4 minutes. Add the spinach and cook, stirring for 3 minutes or until wilted. Remove from the heat and let it cool for about 10 minutes.
In a medium bowl, add the onion/spinach mix, ricotta, lemon zest, pinch of salt, grated mozzarella, grated parmesan and egg. Mix this all together until well combined.
In a large baking/casserole tray, pour 2 cups of the passata in the bottom and spread evenly. Lay the large pasta shells down facing upwards. Fill each shell generously with the ricotta/spinach mix. Pour over the extra passata sauce. Cover with foil and bake in the oven for 25 mins. Remove the foil and sprinkle with extra parmesan cheese and bake for a further 5 mins. Sprinkle with fresh basil and season well.