Pasta Oven Dish with ‘Nduja sausage
The perfect pasta oven dish for date night? Look no further! The creamy filled pasta shells are a perfect match for the spicy tomato sauce base.
The star of the tomato sauce is ‘Nduja, a spreadable sausage typically made in Calabria, Italy. It’s made of porc and peperoncini, giving it it’s distinct spicy flavor.
Serves
2 people
Ingredients
Conchiglioni with filling
1 tablespoon olive oil
200 g spinach leaves
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg (preferably freshly grated)
Salt and pepper (to taste)
Conchiglioni pasta shells (enough shells to spread evenly over your pan)
75g mascarpone (or ricotta)
‘Nduja Tomato sauce
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove of garlic
1 white onion
1 carrot
1 stalk of celery
400 g chopped tomatoes (canned or fresh, up to you)
2 tablespoons of ‘Nduja sausage spread
1/2 teaspoon sliced fresh oregano (1 teaspoon if dried oregano)
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg (preferably freshly grated)
Salt and pepper (to taste)
Handful of grated mozzarella cheese
Few basil leaves (optional)
Tools
Instructions
Fill the conchiglioni
Wash your spinach thoroughly, make sure to shake off most of the water.
Put a sauce pan onto medium heat and add 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add the spinach to your sauce pan and let simmer until the leaves soften and reduce.
Add pepper, salt and nutmeg and stir to combine. Let simmer a little longer, take off the heat and set aside to cool down.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Once your water is boiling (really boiling), add the pasta to the water and boil following the instructions on the package. We’ll be cooking the pasta some more in the oven, so we’ll need a firm pasta shell. Therefore deduct 1 minute from the actual cooking time on the packaging.
Strain the pasta and run it under cold water to stop the cooking process(if you’re a perfectionist, use ice water to halt the heating process completely). Let all the water drain. Rub some olive oil onto a shallow dish or plate. Place the shells on the plate separately so they don’t stick to each other. Set aside.
Add the cold, cooked spinach and mascarpone to a blender. Blend until smooth.
Fill the conchiglie pasta with the spinach and mascarpone mixture. Set aside.
Make the tomato sauce
Finely chop the onion, garlic, carrots and celery. It’s soffritto time!
Put your sauce pan onto a medium heat and add 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
Sauté the onion and garlic. Add the chopped carrots and celery. Let them sweat.
Add 2 tablespoons of ‘Nduja to the softened vegetables. Cook with the rest and give them time to release all of the lovely aromas.
Add chopped tomatoes and fresh or dried oregano to the sauce pan. Let simmer for about 20 minutes.
Use a hand mixer to blend the tomato sauce until you get a nice smooth consistency.
Spread the cooked tomato sauce into an oven dish. Even out a layer of about 1/2 inch. This way, the pasta shells will still stick out of the pasta.
Preheat your oven to 200 degrees.
Carefully divide the conchiglioni pasta into the tomato sauce. Leave 1/2 inch in between each pasta shell. Place the opening facing up.
Scatter small pieces of mozzarella on top of the oven dish.
Place in the oven for 15 minutes. Finish under the grill until you get a beautiful crust.
How To Serve
Finish with some leaves of basil and serve.
You can also make this pasta dish in advance. If it comes straight out of the fridge you have to cook the dish for 30 minutes. Finish under the grill.
