This recipe is from the Guardian's 'Feast' magazine, issue 193, 25th September 2021, page 3 by Yotam Ottolenghi. Also, accessible online here.
This was a super tasty dish. Unfortunately, I had to use small pasta shells so I couldn't stuff them with the mince mixture, but the taste was the same regardless. If you also don't have giant pasta shells, or even pasta shells at all, use any pasta shapes that you do have and it will taste the same.
If you are cooking for people who don't like spice, I would recommend doing what I did for mine (as my sister doesn't like spicy food), and only using 3 red chillies, each with the seeds and pith removed as this does leave a tiny bit of spice for everyone else. But, not so much that others can't eat it. Also, the tiny bit of spice will be toned down with the double cream as well.
Also, if you like, you can add some grated cheese to top this dish when you are grilling it for the final 4mins of cooking, or if not grilling, scatter cheese on top 5-7mins before the end of cooking time so it has time to melt. Any cheese will do; my family like cheddar.
This dish can easily be made in advance and kept in the fridge for later. If doing this, see my instructions in step 4.
Lastly, this dish can very easily be adapted to suit whatever you have in. No chillies? Use 2-4tbsp hot sauce or 2tbsp dried chillies / chilli powder. No mince? Use leftover shredded meat, diced meat or tinned pulses. No tomato paste? Blend 200g of tinned tomatoes and add, use 200g passata or use red pesto. But, just be aware the more substitutions you make, the less like the original dish the meal will taste, it will probably still taste good, but not the same.
Enjoy!
Hazel :)
Dietary Info:
-Main Meal
-No Nuts
-Unsuitable for Vegans
{I would substitute 1 x 400g tin lentils and then you can either find 500g vegan mince alternative, use another tin of pulses (lentils again or another) or make your own vegan mince with a recipe online. See contains Dairy for more ideas.}
-Unsuitable for Vegetarians
{See above.}
-Contains Dairy
{Use a vegan double-cream alternative, or single cream alternative., even a thick, plain dairy-free Greek or natural yogurt would be fine in place of the double-cream. The pasta should be fine, but double check the ingredients just in case and use a suitable alternative if necessary. It doesn't have to be shells.}
-Contains Gluten
{Use a free-from alternative for the pasta, or use pulse pasta.}
Prep: 10 min
Cook: 1 hr
Serves: 4
Ingredients:
-2 ancho chillies, roughly torn {I left these out as I was cooking for my family and not everyone likes spice.}
-3 red chillies, roughly chopped (remove and discard the pith and seeds if you prefer less heat) {I removed the seeds and pith for us as my sister is not a fan of spice.}
-1tbsp ground cumin {I used 1tbsp garam masala.}
-200g tomato paste {This was a whole tube of tomato puree for us, so make sure you have enough.}
-8 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
-1 onion, peeled and roughly chopped (160g net weight) {I used a brown onion, but a red onion would be fine here too.}
-180ml olive oil {I used extra virgin and a little less than this.}
-Salt
-600g cherry tomatoes on the vine {Mine weren't on the vine.}
-900g lamb mince (or 500g lamb mince and 400g beef mince) {I did a combination of lamb and beef because I knew my sister would prefer it.}
-250g giant conchiglie pasta shells {I could only get hold of smaller ones, but they still tasted the same.}
-2+1/2 to 2+3/4 tbsp (10g) finely chopped parsley {I just sprinkled some dried over the top.}
-10g fresh oregano leaves (about 8tbsp), finely chopped {I just sprinkled some dried over the top.}
-3tbsp double cream
Method:
1: Heat the oven to 240℃ / 220℃ fan / 475℉ / gas 9. Put the first six ingredients in a food processor {You will want quite a powerful blender for this meal, preferably one with a lid rather than a hand blender. But, if that's all you have, don't worry, it will still work you just need to be more careful with any bits that spray out the sides and maybe blend in batches.} with 90ml oil {I only did 1tbsp oil as there was quite a lot of liquid in mine already.} and two and a half teaspoons of salt. Blitz to a smooth paste, scraping down the sides as you go, then spoon half of the mix into a 35cm x 25cm baking tray. {I used a lasagne dish.} Add the tomatoes to the remaining paste in the food processor, blitz to a smooth sauce and set aside. {This is where, if you have a smaller blender, you may need to do this in batches.}
2: Put the mince and a tablespoon of oil in the tray with the chilli paste, and mix until everything is well combined; you may need to use a fork {I used a cutlery knife.} to break apart the mince so there are no clumps. Bake for 20 minutes, {I would suggest on the middle/bottom shelf of the oven, the top will just burn the top of the mince.} stirring once halfway through and again breaking apart the mince with a fork to get rid of any chunks, {When stirring, make sure to bring the mince from the bottom up to the top because it may not be cooked through yet.} then remove and tip into a large bowl. Set aside the empty tray to use again (there’s no need to clean it), and turn down the oven to 210℃ / 190℃ fan / 410℉ / gas 6+1/2.
3: While the mince is baking, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, drop in the pasta, cook for 11-12 minutes, until al dente, then drain.
4: Pour the tomato sauce into the empty mince tray and spread it out to cover the base. Once the mince mix is cool enough to handle, break it up into small pieces, then stuff it into the pasta shells. {Or, if they weren't big enough like mine or you used a different shape, pour the tomato sauce into the tray, top with a layer of pasta and finish with a layer of mince.} Arrange the shells in the tomato sauce, cover the tray with foil {At this point, if you wish, you can leave the meal to cool and pop into the fridge to reheat later. If reheating from cold, bake, covered on the middle shelf, for 20mins and uncovered for 10 on the top shelf, to warm through. Same temperature. You may not want to grill depending on if the final 10mins already crisped up the mince.} and bake for 20 minutes.
5: Remove from the oven, take off the foil, then brush the pasta shells with two tablespoons of oil. Turn the oven to the grill setting, then grill the pasta for four to six minutes in the middle of the oven (i.e., not too near the heat source), until crisp and golden brown on top, then remove and set aside.
6: Drizzle the cream all over the pasta. Mix the herbs with the remaining three tablespoons of oil, spoon all over the pasta and serve. {I just scattered some dried herbs on top.}
While you're here...
I have a Pinterest for all my recipes, where you can save them to boards for the future and categorise them into different types of recipe e.g Sunday Dinners, picnic ideas etc. My account is @hazellikestocook, or find the link below. Also, I have a whole blog post explaining this in more detail here and https://hazelscookingandbakingblog.blogspot.com/2021/02/pinterest.html.
https://pin.it/5xDvARk - my profile
This recipe:
https://pin.it/7KcUDll
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