Thursday, May 12, 2011

A Love Affair with Pasta

There is something truly special and unique about pasta.  I'm not sure what it is, exactly, but for me, pasta exudes a certain kind of comfort.  I find many pasta dishes are comfort foods- whether it's spaghetti and meatballs or fettucine alfredo. When I eat them, they make me feel warm and fuzzy inside.  Do you feel the same?  What I do know, is that I LOVE pasta and Italian food overall!  Today, I want to share with you, one of my  favorites - Chicken-stuffed Pasta Shells!


First, I cook a whole 3 pound chicken in a large pot of boiling, salted water. 


Once chicken is cooked, I drain the water and allow it to cool.  Then, I remove the skin and bones and shred all the yummy chicken meat.  Next, I throw the shredded chicken in a food processor and pulse 3-5 times.  You will have beautiful ground chicken, that looks and smells delicious! This can be made a day in advance and refrigerated overnight until you are ready to use it.



Next step is to make the tomato sauce.  You will need 3 cups. I like to make my sauce at home, but if you like, you can purchase canned tomato sauce.  However, once you make your own, you will never go back to the canned stuff.  My sauce consists of tomatoes, extra virgin olive oil, onion, garlic, salt, pepper, oregano and fresh basil.  This can also be prepared a day in advance and refrigerated over night.  




Now you take your ground chicken and season it.  I use sauteed onion, garlic, parmesan cheese, ricotta, sour cream, parsley, salt, pepper and a pinch of nutmeg.  Stir everything until well combined in a large bowl.




Next, grab your package of shells and boil them according to directions on the package.  Once shells are cooked, you can fill them with your mixture.  I use 1 heaping tablespoon of mixture for each shell.  When all the shells are filled, add 1 1/2 cups of tomato sauce to the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish.  Arrange the shells on top of the sauce and cover with another 1 1/2 cups of tomato sauce. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over top and cover baking dish with aluminum foil.  Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes and


VOILA!!


I like to serve this dish with some crusty, cheesy garlic bread and a nice glass of white wine!  Thank you for stopping over.  Hope you can visit again soon! 

5 comments:

  1. This is amazing and I've never filled the shells with chicken before. I will definitely give this a try...I LOVE pasta and now that whole wheat organic pasta is so readily available, I love it even more!! AWESOME!! xoxo

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  2. My mouth is watering now, Rosinda, and I just ate lunch!! Your pasta looks heavenly...I think both Italian and Mexican are my favorites. I just love your food blog, honey. Have a great day! Lotsa hugs, Sherry xx

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  3. Hopefully the comment will 'stay' this time!!! OH MY!!! I love this and I have never filled the ricotta shells with chicken before so I am definitely going to try it!! The combination of flavors and textures sounds wonderful and the fact that you are starting with the chicken from scratch will make this even more amazing!!! Your cookbook is going to be so special Rosinda!!! I will help get the word out when you are finished!!

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  4. Good afternoon lovely!
    Congratulations on your blog, it is fabulous! I cannot wait to read the rest of your posts past and future!
    I LOVE pasta too! I think it is a foodstuff that we all turn to when we want to create a comforting dish. Your chicken stuffed pasta shells look great! I do a similar dish with canneloni, but I roast the chicken first rather than poaching it.
    What are you having for dinner tonight Rosinda? I am having crab salad and I cannot wait!
    Thank you so much for your wonderful support on my last blog post, you made my heart all warm and fuzzy.
    Happy Monday sweetie
    Love Morwenna
    xoxo

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  5. Rosinda! YUM!! I would love to make this myself :) You had me at Chicken ;) I love your blog :) You make it all so fun and homey :)
    Thanks for leading me to you :)
    love,
    Denise of Ingleside

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