Ricotta stuffed shells with butternut squash sauce
Author: Tina Jeffers
Serves: 6
Ingredients
For the sauce:
1 medium butternut squash (about 1 ½ pounds)
½ medium red onion, diced
1 tablespoon olive oil
¼ teaspoon red chili flakes
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
½ cup chicken or vegetable stock
½ cup half-and-half
salt and pepper to taste
For the filling:
1 pound Swiss chard
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 15-ounce container ricotta cheese
1 egg, beaten
¼ teaspoon finely grated nutmeg
½ teaspoon fine grain sea salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup grated mozzarella
¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
20-25 jumbo dried pasta shells
Instructions
Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees. Using a large, sharp knife, trim the ends of the squash and cut it in half lengthwise. Peel with a vegetable peeler. With a spoon, scoop out the seeds and discard. On a baking sheet toss the butternut squash and onion with the olive oil, chili flakes and salt. Roast until the squash is tender, about 30 minutes, tossing occasionally.
Transfer squash to a food processor or high-speed blender. Add apple cider vinegar, chicken stock and half and half, process until smooth adding a little more stock if needed to thin if necessary. Taste, and season with salt and pepper as desired.
Cook the shells according to directions in well-salted water until al dente. Drain and let cool enough to handle with your hands. Lightly oil a large baking dish or several smaller dishes.
To make the filling, combine the ricotta, egg, nutmeg, salt and pepper in a medium bowl.
Remove the stems from the Swiss chard and finely chop and slice the rest of the leaves into ribbons. Add the chard stems to a medium skillet with the tablespoon of olive oil. Sauté for a few minutes until they start to soften and then add the rest of the chard and cook until wilted. Let cool slightly before adding to the ricotta mixture.
Spread a ⅓ of the sauce across the bottom of a lightly oiled 9x13 inch baking dish or several smaller dishes. Fill each shell with the ricotta mixture and arrange in a single layer in the pan. Ladle the remaining sauce over the shells, cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes, uncover for the last 15 minutes or until the shells are hot and cooked through. Sprinkle with the Parmesan and serve.
Recipe by Scaling Back at https://www.scalingbackblog.com/ricotta-stuffed-shells-with-butternut-squash-sauce/