Stuffed Tuna Pasta Shells

The love child of my favourite nostalgic dish - tuna pasta - and the classic spinach & ricotta stuffed conchiglioni. An absolute crowd pleaser.

FULL RECIPE!

Ingredients (serves 2-3) 

12 pasta shells (conchiglioni) 

100g grated mozzarella 

For the filling: 

1 tin of good quality tuna (I use Ortiz)

100g ricotta or mascarpone 

3 spring onions - finely chopped 

80g raw spinach - blanched & refreshed 

Salt & pepper 

1/4 nutmeg grated 

For the tomato sauce 

1 onion - finely diced 

3 garlic cloves - finely chopped 

1 tbsp tomato puree 

1 tbso harissa paste 

1 bay leaf 

400g tin of tomatoes 

Method: 

I like to get started on the tomato sauce first, to give it maximum time to simmer away and develop its flavour. Sweat the onion and garlic in plenty of olive oil on a low heat until soft and jammy. Add in the tomato puree, harissa paste & bay leaf, increase the heat and cook off for 5 minutes until the colour starts to deepen. Tip in the tin of tomatoes with a good pinch of salt and let that simmer while you make the rest. 

Bring a pan of salted water up to the boil and par boil the pasta shells for 4-5 mins until softened and about half-cooked (they will finish cooking during the bake later on.) Drain and rinse under cold water and set aside. 

Bring another pan of water up to the boil and blanch the spinach for 10 seconds. Remove and plunge into a bowl of cold water. Gather in your hands and squeeze out as much water as you can. Roughly chop and set aside. 

In a bowl, mix together all of the filling ingredients. 

Take each pasta shell and fill with 1 teaspoon of the mixture. 

Preheat the oven to 180C.

In a baking dish, pour out the tomato sauce which will be a base layer for the pasta shells. 

Arrange the filled pasta shells onto the tomato sauce and top everything with lots of grated mozzarella. 

Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes until golden and bubbling. 

Serve up and enjoy!