Stuffed Shells - Without preboiling them

[MostlyWater]

Wish me luck, I'm trying this for the first time! I don't know where I read it, but they said to prepare the past a dish with plenty of tomato sauce in the pan, and let it sit overnight in it.

 

[elaine l]

Good luck is right. I tried it once. It comes out okay but different consistency. The pasta shell seems more firm and chewy. Just my take. You may love it.

 

[larry_stewart]

I saw a martha stewart episode with guest Alan Alda. He was showing her some of his favorite recipes when he travelled to Italy. He mixed uncooked ziti with about 3/4 cup of olive oil. Let it sit for about 45 minutes. Then mix with crushed tomatoes, salt , pepper and bake about ( i dont remember ) Then add parmesan cheese.

I was skeptical, but tried it. It was actually pretty good ( and easy)

But as mentioned above, the consistency was different. A little chewier/ rubberier ( if thats a word). But definitely a different take on baked ziti .

Never tried it with shells. I know there are some lasagna recipes that do it that way.

 

[Andy M.]

Is cooking the pasta that big of a deal that you have to settle for chewy and rubbery shells?

 

[larry_stewart]

Honestly, I kinda liked the rubbery feel in that Alan Alda ziti dish. Im not saying I would shoot for that every time, but as a variation, i kinda liked it, and I make once or twice a year.

 

[kitchenelf]

I think unless your shells are totally immersed in sauce with enough liquid for them to absorb I don't see it working.

 

[MostlyWater]

it's for dinner tonite, and so far so good except for the fact that i couldn't get all the mixture into each shell.

 

[Andy M.]

...i couldn't get all the mixture into each shell.

Another drawback of using uncooked shells...

 

[quicksilver]

So, at 9:28pm EDT, what is the verdict?

​

 

[kitchenelf]

So, at 9:28pm EDT, what is the verdict?

​

They're still cooking

I'm curious too - how did they turn out???

 

[TATTRAT]

Is cooking the pasta that big of a deal that you have to settle for chewy and rubbery shells?

I think unless your shells are totally immersed in sauce with enough liquid for them to absorb I don't see it working.

Another drawback of using uncooked shells...

They're still cooking

I'm curious too - how did they turn out???

like school lunch, I imagine, dry on top, crusty around the rim, rubbery throughout, but a good jaw workout.

just my $.02

 

[quicksilver]

They're still cooking

(just so you know, I just went to post the below, and the screen cleared, took me to the top of page, where the welcome, quicksilver is on the right, and quicksilver
flashed red, then back to blue, then back here again to post)
Anyway, K.e

 

[redgriller]

I’ve done this a few times with great results. I use Rigatoni shells which are A LOT easier to stuff when they are hard and uncooked. All I’ve had to do is add an extra 1 to 1.5 cups of water, cover, and bake. For example, the last time I did this, I stuffed the “raw” shells with a cheese mixture, layered them in a pan, and added a tomato sauce with an extra 1 cup of water. Covered and baked and it turned out phenomenal. Perfect.

The key is, like cooking rice, to add extra water to your recipe to account for cooking the dry pasta. It’s worked for me several times with no chewy pasta and no burnt ends. Just make sure your pasta is completely submerged, you add some extra water, and you keep it covered for baking. It works like a charm and is so much easier to stuff Rigatoni than trying to fill it after it is cooked and limp.

 

[kitchenelf]

Rigatoni makes sense and those shells would be immersed. I've never made stuffed shells where the shells were completely immersed. I really hope they turned out - I'm sure there would be a way to recover if they didn't - hopefully!

 

[redgriller]

For a large shell like conchiglioni, I’m not sure what would happen, but with rigatoni, a smaller shell that is easily submersed, it works great. Then again, a shell like conchiglioni can be easily stuffed after it is cooked.

Also, they are making the “bake” noodles these days where you just add dry noodles, extra water, and then bake. It’s rather popular for lasagna.

 

[kitchenelf]

I tried the lasagna noodles (the no cooking first) one time - didn't like them at all!

 

[redgriller]

A bit chewy huh? That's what I thought.

It seems the regular noodles do better than the "bake" noodles if you put them in the right environment with proper liquid. Kind of like rice and baking.

 

[kitchenelf]

Let's just say the texture sure was "off"

 

[redgriller]

We goofed once when I was making lasagna and got the "bake" noodles. I wasn't up to speed on adjusting the new recipe (first time making lasgana) and the noodles were definitely a bit "off". DW said it was good, but I know the noodles were the downfall of that dish!

Edited to add: Ok, I'll be honest, something went wrong and the noodles were really bad!!!

 

[Andy M.]

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