Broccoli stuffed Pasta Shells in Spinach Sauce

Broccoli stuffed Pasta Shells in Spinach Sauce, a Great Vegetarian Summer Meal

Broccoli stuffed Pasta Shells in Spinach Sauce, a beautiful creamy and uber delicious summer pasta that you definitively wanna try before the summer ends. 

Hello lovely people! I feel like I have been on the longest summer break ever. And I am totally in denial of the fact that it’s August, and we are approaching towards the end of summer. OMG, even the thought of it freaks me out. How are you all doing? Are you having a good summer so far? Did any of you do any summer travels? Would love to hear your travel adventures?

Delicious Flavors Amid a Hot and Humid Summer

July was busy as hell, hot and humid like crazy, and went by super fast. But I didn’t let any of the fresh green produce escape my kitchen. The markets have been full of fresh produce and I have been cooking and eating all the greens possible. This broccoli stuffed pasta shells with spinach sauce is a great vegetarian summer meal with all the fresh delicious summer flavors.

I used large pasta shells , but you could even use cannelloni pasta as well. For the filling, I blended the broccoli a bit coarse, so there is a slight crunchy texture in the filling. The pine nuts adds a beautiful creamy nutty bite to the filling. Normally, I don’t use pine nuts a lot. I have a tendency to get pine mouth from them, however, this time I decided to try them again after a few years, and thank God nothing happened. Yay… I absolutely love pine nuts and I wish I could eat them more often. You could use walnuts or even pistachios instead of pine nuts. For a slight tartness I added some dried cranberries, and that added extra flavor to the filling.

Embrace Flavorful Greens

Most of the time, you’ll notice stuffed pasta or most pastas have either red tomato based sauce or white creamy sauce or simple pesto. But I have been obsessed with all the greens in the market lately. Also, this spinach sauce has been one of my favorite sauces for a long long time. My mom used to make this sauce just with plain penne pasta, or orzo pasta, to get us all the green nutrition with the carbs from the pasta. I think that’s a smart way to feed in the greens. And yes, I totally made a face when I first saw the green sauce in my pasta. But don’t get turned off by the green color. Its such a silky, creamy, and utterly flavorful sauce that you’ll absolutely love it. It has become one of my favorite sauces to make. You guys have to definitely try it out.

A perfect way to make your kids love some greens too. Everyone loves pasta, and adding some extra greens while making it even more flavorful is simply the best. The filling is super easy to make. Just blend some broccoli and combine it with everything else in a bowl. That’s it! No kidding. No cooking required there. How simple is that! The filling can stay in the fridge for 3-4 days. Or it can be frozen for a few weeks to months. I normally fill the pasta and then freeze the shells. But you could freeze the filling and fill the pasta later. 

Preserve Color, Taste and Nutrition

Even the sauce is super easy to make. You do want to blanch the spinach, but you don’t want to over cook it. Just few seconds in hot boiling water and then shocking the leaves in ice bath will preserve its color, taste and nutrition. The sauce can get too thick with cooking or if kept for few days. You could add some milk to thin it down. It will stay in the fridge for upto a week. You could freeze the sauce for few months to use it later.

End Summer with Green Deliciousness

Now before the summer ends and the pumpkin season starts, go ahead and get some fresh broccoli and spinach, and make this scrumptious summer meal. A perfect meal for a weekend get together. Your guests will be amazed with green deliciousness.

I would love to hear from you if do go ahead and make this super delicious pasta meal. Please share on my Facebook page or my Instagram and even tag me once you put it up on your page. Keep enjoying this beautiful summer. I might be a little slow in posting for next few weeks, as I am going through some personal life stuff. But I promise to keep posting more deliciousness on the blog. 

If you want to try another vegetarian pasta, that’s also a vegan pasta and one my favorites, then check out Olive Pesto Pasta. Also if you want to try another spinach deliciousness, then you’ll be amazed with this Palak Shorba with Mint Pesto (Spinach Soup). A must try!!

5 from 8 votes

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Broccoli Stuffed Pasta Shells in Spinach Sauce

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: pasta, brocolli, spinach

Servings: 25 large shells

Author: Esha

Ingredients

Spinach Sauce:

• 300 ml heavy cream
• 2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
• 10.5 oz (300 grams) spinach
• 1 leek, cleaned and sliced
• 2 shallots, sliced
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 0.5 oz (15 grams) garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 oz (28-30 grams) basil leaves (optional)
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg powder
• 1/2 tsp chilli flakes
• Zest of one large lemon
• 1/4 tsp crushed black pepper
• 1/4 cup walnuts or pine nuts
• Salt to taste

Broccoli Stuffing for Pasta Shells:

• 10.6 oz (300 grams) Broccoli
• 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp (50 grams) bread crumbs
• 100 ml milk
• 2 tbsp + 2 tsp (40 ml) olive oil
• 5.5 oz (155 grams) ricotta
• 3 tbsp parmesan cheese
• 1 tbsp dried cranberries (roughly chopped)
• 2 tbsp pine nuts
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 2 tbsp fresh herbs roughly chopped (I used Mint & basil. But you could use any) (Optional)
• zest of a large lemon
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 25-30 large pasta shells

Instructions

For Spinach Sauce:

1. Blanch the spinach for 10-15 seconds and quickly shock them in Ice bath to stop the cooking. This will also help preserve the green color. Gently squeeze the water out of the leaves.

2. Heat a heavy bottom pan and add the olive oil. Add garlic, leeks, shallots, and lemon zest. Sauce for 5 minutes on medium low until shallots and leeks are translucent. 

3. Add squeezed spinach, and all the spices and herbs. Sauce for 3-5 minutes. Transfer the cooked spinach, basil leaves, parmesan cheese, nuts and milk in a high powered blender and blend to a smooth puree.

4. Transfer the puree back into the pan, add the cream and boil over low heat for 2 minutes. Check for seasoning. 

5. This sauce could be frozen for later used. If it gets too thick, then add little bit milk or heavy cream to get the saucy consistency.

For the Broccoli Filling:

1. Put the broccoli florets in a food processor and blend for few seconds until its coarsely blended.

2. Transfer it to a mixing bowl and add rest of the ingredients. Mix well and check for seasoning.

3. Boil a pot of water and generously salt it. Add the pasta and boil it according to the package instructions.

4. Strain the water and fill the shells with broccoli filling.

5. These shells can be frozen for later use. To freeze them, lay them on a sheet pan in a single layer and put in freezer for few house or until completely frozen. Transfer in a ziplock bag and store in freezer.

6. To cook them, preheat the oven at 350 degrees. Slightly oil the oven proof serving pasta dish. Put the spinach sauce in the pan. Arrange the filled shells in a single layer with filled side at the top. Sprinkle some freshly grated parmesan cheese and drizzle little bit of olive oil. The oil will prevent the pasta from drying in the oven. Cover the top with aluminum foil and make 1-2 slits for the steam. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes until its hot. 

7. Sprinkle some parmesan cheese and some roasted nuts before serving. Serve it immediately.