Shells in sauce
Description
The recipe won't take much time. Special shell-shaped pasta are quite difficult to find and are available only in large supermarkets or specialty stores. You can try making them yourself, but that process is time-consuming. I always stuff this pasta with meat, fish, mushroom, or vegetable filling, and the béchamel sauce adds sophistication to the dish and makes it juicier. Serve hot.
Instructions
- 1
Step 1
1. First, I boil large seashell pasta in salted water for 8 minutes, then drain it in a colander and drizzle with sunflower oil.
- 2
Step 2
2. Wash the eggplant, finely chop, salt, and let sit for 5–10 minutes. Wash the tomatoes and cut into wedges, peel and finely chop the onion—fry one part of the onion in a skillet, and fry the second part in a separate skillet together with the eggplant and tomatoes. Wash the meat and mince through a meat grinder together with garlic. Combine all ingredients, add the egg, season with salt to taste and add spices, then mix well. Stuff the pasta shells with the filling and place them into a baking dish.
- 3
Step 3
3. For the sauce: place butter in a saucepan, add flour, turmeric, and nutmeg, mix well. Gradually pour in hot milk in a thin stream, stirring constantly to prevent lumps. Pour the resulting sauce over the shells in the baking dish, then top with green peas.
- 4
Step 4
4. Place the pan in a preheated oven at 180-200 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes. Then, take it out, sprinkle everything with grated hard cheese, and return to the oven for another 7-10 minutes.
- 5
Step 5
5. The finished large shells easily separate from each other, but you can cut them into pieces like a cake. I serve them cooled.