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