Ingredients
Check off ingredients as you go
- 600g conchiglioni pasta (about 1.3 lbs)
For the filling
- 1kg mixed mushrooms (I used white and brown button mushrooms, oyster mushrooms, porcini, portobello) - about 2.2 lbs
- 2 tbsp olive oil (or butter)
- 3-4 large fresh sage leaves or 1 tbsp dried
- Salt, pepper
- 1L béchamel sauce (about 4 cups)
- 100g parmesan (about 1 cup grated)
Preparing the Filling
- Wash, peel, and cut all the mushrooms into evenly-sized cubes. You might think there’s a lot, but they’ll reduce by two-thirds after cooking.
- In a large pan over high heat, add the mushrooms with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. They’ll start releasing their liquid. Lower the heat, season with salt and pepper, and add the sage.
- Meanwhile, prepare the béchamel. In a saucepan, melt the butter, add the flour, and stir well to form a roux - the flour should blend with the butter to form a smooth, golden mass. Gradually add the milk while continuing to stir so the béchamel thickens. For this recipe, you want a slightly loose béchamel so the mixture won’t be too compact when you add the mushrooms and won’t dry out in the oven. Once the right consistency is reached, turn off the heat.
- When the mushrooms are cooked and almost all the liquid has evaporated, turn off the heat. Remove the sage leaves.
- In a bowl, combine the mushrooms and béchamel.
Filling the Conchiglioni
- After cooking the conchiglioni pasta according to package directions (they should be well cooked, not too al dente), place a tablespoon of filling in each shell and arrange in a baking dish, fitting them snugly together.
- Sprinkle with parmesan and bake at 200°C (400°F) on broil setting for 10 minutes, until the filling sets slightly and the cheese melts.
Tips and Variations
You can also stuff these pasta shells with all sorts of fillings:
- Ricotta and spinach, using the recipe from ricotta spinach lasagna.
- Bolognese, and why not replace the beef with veal? It’s delicious too!
- If you don’t have sage, you can substitute with parsley.