Stuffed Shells - Without preboiling them

[elaine l]

Yup, that's why I tried it. Never again.

 

[MostlyWater]

THEY WERE FABULOUS!

I didn't even tell my family how I made them !

But the next time, I will make a whole recipe of filling, just smaller (like I used a large pckge of ricotta cheese and no shredded cheese; next time I will use a small pkge of each).

Thansk for asking !

 

[kitchenelf]

Glad they turned out MW!!!!

 

[MostlyWater]

it was worth it for the shells as it m ade filling them much easier. you have to use tons more liquid and let it sit overnight, so i don't think it'd be any easier for ziti or mac and cheese. for those, i'd just preboil.

the jury is out for lasagne, though.

 

[B'sgirl]

I bake chicken inside of uncooked manicotti shells all the time and it's never been chewy. I drown them in sauce and stuff them with chicken and cream cheese and they turn out really good.

 

[Callisto in NC]

I bake chicken inside of uncooked manicotti shells all the time and it's never been chewy. I drown them in sauce and stuff them with chicken and cream cheese and they turn out really good.

That sounds really good. Could you post the recipe?

 

[JillBurgh]

Thanks for the update. What a time-saver your experiment is for the rest of us!

 

[redgriller]

I still don't get it. All this is to avoid boiling water?

For me it was to make stuffing Rigatoni easier. I've tried stuffing cooked Rigatoni with a piping bag, and it is so much easier to stuff the uncooked tubes. Just spread your filling out on a plate or bowl, grab an uncooked Rigatoni tube and press down into the filling 2 or 3 time to fill. Fast and easy. When you're stuffing 50 to 60 tubes, this really helps.

 

[Andy M.]

For me it was to make stuffing Rigatoni easier. I've tried stuffing cooked Rigatoni with a piping bag, and it is so much easier to stuff the uncooked tubes. Just spread your filling out on a plate or bowl, grab an uncooked Rigatoni tube and press down into the filling 2 or 3 time to fill. Fast and easy. When you're stuffing 50 to 60 tubes, this really helps.

Sounds good.

The original subject was stuffed shells and an earlier poster commented that they couldn't get as much stuffing into the shells because they were uncooked.

 

[B'sgirl]

That sounds really good. Could you post the recipe?

You can use any kind of pasta sauce you want--bottled, homemade, etc. When I'm lazy I use bottled sauce, when I'm not I use a lasagne sauce out of the Better Homes cookbook. I have never tried it with alfredo sauce, I'm not sure it has enough liquid for the noodles but it sounds good.

It is adapted by me from the Betty Crocker Easy Family Dinners recipe book.

1 egg
cottage or ricotta cheese
parmesean cheese
fresh or dry parsley
fresh or dry oregano
26-30oz pasta sauce
garlic salt
1 1/2lbs chicken tenders
14 uncooked manicotti shells
2 c shredded mozzarella cheese
chopped fresh basil leaves

Heat oven to 350. Beat egg in a bowl. Mix in cottage and parmesean cheese, parsley, and oregano (Sorry, I make this part up and don't measure so you'll have to guess the amounts). Set aside. Spread about 1/3 of pasta sauce in ungreased rectangular baking dish, 13x9x2 inches. Sprinkle garlic salt on chicken. Insert chicken into manicotti shells, stuffing from each end of shell to fill if necessary. Fill in any gaps with cottage cheese mixture. Place shells on pasta sauce in dish. Put the rest of the cottage cheese mixture to fill in space around the shells. Pour remaining pasta sauce evenly over shells, covering completely. Sprinkle with cheese. Cover and bake about 1 1/2 hours or until shells are tender. Sprinkle with basil.

 

[Callisto in NC]

Thank you. Sounds great.

 

[MostlyWater]

no way am i gonna wash out a pastry shell bag and no way am i gonna make 50 or 60 shells.

i stick to one box and the recipe on the box.

 

[redgriller]

no way am i gonna wash out a pastry shell bag and no way am i gonna make 50 or 60 shells.

i stick to one box and the recipe on the box.

Rigatoni (a tube pasta) is a lot smaller than the jumbo shells. There are 60 to 80 pieces in a bag.

Rigatoni - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[MostlyWater]

no way would i sit and stuff such tiny pasta. no way !!!!!

 

[redgriller]

no way would i sit and stuff such tiny pasta. no way !!!!!

It's a bit of work to be sure, and every time I do it I ask DW repeatedly who's bright idea it was (mine) and I swear I won't do it again. Yet, I eventually forget the "pain", as our minds tend to do, and I do it again. It really is a great dish. I can stuff 50-60 tubes in less than 20 minutes, so it isn't that bad really.

 

[Andy M.]

It's a bit of work to be sure, and every time I do it I ask DW repeatedly who's bright idea it was (mine) and I swear I won't do it again. Yet, I eventually forget the "pain", as our minds tend to do, and I do it again. It really is a great dish. I can stuff 50-60 tubes in less than 20 minutes, so it isn't that bad really.

HAve you ever considered stuffing elbow macaroni?

 

[MostlyWater]

elbow noodles?

 

[Andy M.]

Elbow macaroni.

 

[MostlyWater]

you're joking, right ?

 

[Andy M.]

you're joking, right ?

About stuffing them? Yes, in response to redgriller's post about stuffing smaller pasta's being time consuming but worth it.