Alternatively, you can stuff the well-cooked shells with meat sauce, top them with cheese, and bake them in an oven preheated to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (177 degrees Celsius) for 15 minutes. But as everything we cook, when properly prepared, pasta has many benefits that will help you maintain a healthy Mediterranean lifestyle.

Fresh basil, marinara sauce, spinach, garlic, and herbs all come together to make the classic Italian flavors that you find in so many of their pasta and pizza dishes. Spray a 9x13-inch pan with cooking spray to help keep the shells from sticking and make cleanup easier. Conchigliette is commonly used in pasta salads and with heavy meat sauces as they have excellent capability to hold different fillings.Stuff a pre-cooked shell with a mix of ricotta cheese, blanched spinach or pesto, eggs, salt, and pepper. It’s quite easy to pull together, requires minimum prep, and the variety of flavours complementing each other: salty olives, bitter radicchio, sweet balsamic, warming and peppery olive oil, titch of cream from the parmesan, tangy sundried tomatoes, and the freshness of the basil, all come together beautifully. If you’re catering for vegetarians, be careful of any coloured pasta as it has the potential to be coloured with squid ink! You can freeze it either before it's baked, or freeze the leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 months.

It is important to pay attention to portion size and balance your pasta intake with other nutrients such as protein and vegetables to ensure a complete meal. I always know that summer’s here when I start to think about using tiny seashell pasta to make a salad. Its seashell shape makes it suitable for creamy Italian pasta dishes because it can hold the sauce in its hollow center and retain the flavor. Italian seasoning: In Italian seasoning, you'll find a blend of classic Italian herbs like basil, marjoram, oregano, rosemary, and thyme.

While we have taken care in preparing this summary and believe it is accurate, it is not a substitute for your reading the product packaging and label prior to use. This cute, mini shells are the perfect shape to pick up little puddles of sauce, and we're given them a slightly rougher texture so that they hold onto even more of those lovely flavours. I brought this to a rooftop garden party the other evening and when all was said and done, about one scoop was left.

Just make sure you don't over-cook the pasta shells when you boil them, so they keep their shell-shape. Most people would simply drop a handful or two of conchigliette into a saucepan of boiling salted water and cook for 4-5 minutes.It is made from Durum wheat flour and has different colour varieties where squid ink or tomato or spinach extract was used to colourize the pasta. If you're a fan of the classic Italian spaghetti flavors, try our Cheesy Baked Spaghetti Casserole, and if you're looking for something a little creamier, our Tuna Noodle Casserole is sure to hit the spot! I've tried to find a recipe for you even on Italian sites but I don't think that Italians make homemade large conchiglioni and lumaconi.