Portabello Mushroom and Cheese Stuffed Shells

The great part about a good red sauce is that it doesn't have to be the star of the dish, it can be an accent.  Sure, I love spaghetti drenched in either a basic marinara or a chunky meat sauce. I truly could drink it straight.  But sometimes, it's good to let a number of the other flavors shine through.

A great example of this is stuffed shells.  These little pasta pockets by themselves taste like any other noodle.  But it's the combinations you create inside makes all the difference.

Now you can add all sorts of items inside the shells. I plan to attempt a much more meaty option in the future featuring Italian sausage, pancetta and prosciutto.  But for this instance, we're going to create a version with just mushrooms, cheese and a single slice of pepperoni.

Whenever you are stuffing something with cheese, I recommend you use multiple types of cheese.  Sure, you may love mozzarella, but by itself, it'll melt all over the place.  Ricotta by itself my set up well, but the flavor is pretty bland.  Think of mixing cheeses like music.  A single note can be nice, but a full chord with complimentary tones is much more enjoyable.

Combining them all gives you all the positive properties and a ton of flavor.  So we're going to use ricotta for it's congealing properties, mozzarella for it's stretchiness and taste, and a whole mess of others for flavor.  Yes, you could go to the local cheese monger and buy minuscule amounts of asiago, provolone, etc.  But none of us have the time and few have the money or patience to do that. So go to the deli section of your grocery store and look for a prepackaged blend of Italian cheese.  Make sure you read the label to see what cheeses are included.  One brand out there claims that mozzarella and Parmesan is a good mixture.  WRONG!  That's like saying you know every region of Italy because your cruise ship docked outside of Rome for a day.  Make sure the bag you use has a multitudes of cheese, like asiago, etc., so you have a number of flavors.

Now back to the sauce... the recipe does call for 2 quarts of sauce.  We'll drench the shells in the sauce to help keep them moist during the baking process, but you don't have to or want to necessarily smother the shells in the sauce when you serve them.  As you can see in the picture above, a small amount of the sauce will naturally stick to the shells.  And overpowering the shells with the sauce will bury the flavors of the cheeses and mushrooms.  By all means, use as much as you want when you serve, but I'd suggest just a spoonful or two on top of each as a delicious accent.

This recipe makes a LOT, 24 to 30 shells.  And when you consider 3-4 is a meal, then this becomes a perfect freezer stocker meal.  Cook the large pan so you'll have a great dinner and a wonderful lunch the next day, then wrap the smaller pan in plastic wrap and tin foil and drop it in your freezer for a cooking free night somewhere in the future.

Portabello Mushroom and Cheese Stuffed Pasta Shells

Makes 24-30 shells

1 box of jumbo pasta shells
64 ounces of marinara sauce (storebought if you must, or a double batch of my Quick and Easy Marinara or one batch of my Chunky Marinana)
2 large portabello mushroom caps or 6-7 baby portabellos
1 32 ounce container ricotta cheese
2 cups mozzarella cheese
1 cup of Italian style cheeses (parmesan, asiago or any other mix you like)
1 tablespoon basil
1 teaspoon fresh black pepper
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
30 small slices of pepperoni

Slice the portabello mushrooms into small bits and then saute them over medium high heat.  Remove them just before you think they are done and place them in a large mixing bowl.  Begin heating a large stock pot of water mixed with about a tablespoon of salt.  As you wait for the water to come to a boil, make your marinara sauce and allow it to simmer as you complete the rest of the steps.  When the water is boiling, add the shells to the water and cook as recommended on the box.  Strain the noodles when ready and spray them with cold water to stop the cooking process.  Lay them out on a cooling rack to cool while you work on the filling.

Grab that bowl with the sauted mushrooms in them and add the ricotta, mozzarella and Italian cheeses.  Stir them all together using a large spoon.  Sprinkle the basil, pepper and Italian seasoning over the cheese and mix until combined. 

Pull a 13x9 pan AND an 8x8 or smaller pan out of your cupboards.  Spray both with non-stick spray and pour a thin layer of sauce in the bottoms.

Now to stuff the shells...  Heat your oven to 350 degrees.  Grab one shell and lay a slice of pepperoni inside.  Using a larger of the two spoons in your silverware drawers, scoop out enough of the portabello and mushroom mixture to fill the shell.  Place the shell in one of the pans an repeat until all are filled.  Once the rest are completed, cover the shells with the remaining sauce.

If you want to cook all of them, cover both with tin foil and place in the oven for 35 minutes or until the internal temperature of the shells reach 140 degrees.  If you want to save one pan for later, cover the pan with plastic wrap, tin foil or the pan's lid and place into the freezer for up to 2 months.  When you cook it later, move it from freezer to a 350 degree oven and cook for 60-65 minutes or until it reaches 140 inside the shells.

Serve quickly so the cheese is still melty.  When serving, sprinkle additional mozzarella or Italian cheese over the top of the shells. 

So make a large batch of shells, maybe freeze a few for a quick meal later and then stuff yourself.