Ingredients
Check off ingredients as you go
- 600 g (1.3 lb) conchiglioni pasta shells
For the filling
- 1 kg (2.2 lb) mixed mushrooms (I used white and cremini button mushrooms, oyster mushrooms, porcini and portobello)
- 2 Tbsp olive oil (or butter)
- 3-4 large fresh sage leaves, or 1 Tbsp dried
- Salt, pepper
- 1 liter (4 cups) béchamel sauce
- 100 g (1 cup) grated Parmesan
Making the filling
- Wash, trim and cut all the mushrooms into cubes of the same size. It probably looks like a lot, but they shrink by two-thirds once cooked.
- Put the mushrooms in a skillet with 2 Tbsp olive oil over high heat. They will start releasing their liquid. Lower the heat, season with salt and pepper and add the sage.
- Meanwhile, make the béchamel. In a saucepan, melt the butter, add the flour and stir well to form a roux: the flour should blend into the butter to make a fairly soft, golden paste. Add the milk little by little, stirring constantly, so the béchamel thickens. For this recipe you want a slightly loose béchamel, so the filling isn’t too dense once the mushrooms go in and doesn’t dry out in the oven. As soon as it reaches the right consistency, turn off the heat.
- When the mushrooms are cooked and almost no liquid remains, turn off the heat. Remove the sage leaves.
- In a bowl, mix the mushrooms with the béchamel.
Filling the conchiglioni
- Cook the conchiglioni according to the package instructions (they should be cooked through, not too al dente), then put a tablespoon of filling in each shell and arrange them in a baking dish, packed slightly together.
- Sprinkle with Parmesan and bake at 200°C (400°F) on the broiler (grill) setting for 10 minutes, just long enough for the filling to set slightly and the cheese to melt.
Tips and variations
You can also stuff these shells with all kinds of fillings:
- ricotta and spinach, using the recipe for ricotta and spinach lasagna.
- bolognese, and why not swap the beef for veal? It’s delicious too!
- If you don’t have sage, you can use parsley instead.