Stuffed Pasta Shells
Print Recipe
Marcel's first signature dish.
Course
Main Course
Cuisine 
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 large onion peeled and finely chopped
- a few rosemary or oregano sprigs chopped, plus extra to garnish
- 125 g small flat mushrooms sliced, or
- 1 small aubergine diced
- 6 plump coarse sausages skinned
- 175 ml red wine
- 300 ml passata
- 4 tbsp sun-dried tomato paste
- pinch of sugar
- 250 g large dried pasta shells
- 142 ml carton half-fat single cream optional
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a deep frying pan. Stir in the onion and rosemary or oregano and cook over a gentle heat for 10 minutes or until the onion is soft and golden.
- Add the mushrooms and cook over a medium heat until the vegetables are soft and beginning to brown at the edges. Tip the onion mixture into a bowl.
- Crumble the sausagemeat into the hot pan and stir over a high heat with a wooden spoon, breaking the meat up as you do so, until browned all over.
- Reduce the heat slightly and pour in the wine. Leave to bubble and reduce down by about half. Return the onion mixture to the pan and add the passata and sun-dried tomato paste. Bubble gently for another 10 minutes. Add a pinch of sugar if the sauce tastes a little sharp.
- While the sauce is simmering, cook the pasta in a large pan of boiling salted water for 10 minutes or until just tender. Drain well and rinse with cold running water to cool. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan oven).
- Fill the pasta shells with the sauce and put in a shallow ovenproof dish. Drizzle over any extra sauce and the cream, if using, and bake for 30 minutes or until piping hot. Sprinkle with extra herbs, if using, and serve with a big bowl of salad.