Ricotta Stuffed Pasta Shells in Taleggio Sauce

My cooking’s often inspired by what happens to be on hand, like some delicious Vannella ricotta leftover from recipe testing and a huge bunch of chives from a herb patch gone berserk. That’s how this dish came about. Giant pasta shells, called conchiglioni, are simple to fill and look impressive; they’re also perfect with the filling and sauce from my spinach and ricotta cannelloni, which is a little lighter than this ricotta filling and Taleggio sauce. This dish needs a full-bodied wine with enough zest to cut through the rich sauce, like Yangarra Blanc, a zippy blend of grenache blanc, clairette, roussanne, picpoul and bourboulenc. You won’t need all of the pasta shells for this recipe, but some always break so it’s best to cook them all. You can turn the leftovers into a delicious mac’n’cheese (see video below).

Serves 6 as a starter

Ingredients

500g large pasta shells (see below)
Extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
600g ricotta
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 bunches chives, finely sliced
1 lemon, zest finely grated

Taleggio Sauce

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 red onion, finely diced
500ml single cream
200g Taleggio
Freshly grated nutmeg, to taste

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C.
Cook pasta in plenty of well-salted boiling water until just al dente. Drain well, toss gently with oil and spread out on a tray to cool.
Meanwhile, make Taleggio Sauce: heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat, add onion and cook, covered, for about 6 minutes, until soft but not coloured. Add cream and boil for a couple of minutes until slightly thickened. Reduce heat, add Taleggio and nutmeg and stir until cheese melts. Set aside.
Combine ricotta, egg, chives and lemon zest.
Pour Taleggio Sauce into a large baking dish.
Fill shells with ricotta mixture, gently squeezing them back into shape, and arrange them in the baking dish in a single layer.
Bake for about 35 minutes, until just starting to brown.
Serve immediately.