Every now and then, we're all in need of a bit of fun. Call me crazy, but I find a lot of excitement in culinary adventure. We started using these large rice pasta shells a while ago. I've stuffed them with a rice pilaf, which was excellent. I should make it again and post a recipe. But this time, I stuffed them with mashed potatoes. It came out excellent too, I hope you try it!
I used this recipe for the lemon and dill mashed potatoes with avocado. I stuffed the grand shells with that mixture and topped with a tomato sauce. I made the tomato sauce myself and included capers. You can create a sauce or use a pre-prepared sauce. When I make tomato sauce, I use pureed tomatoes and tomato paste. My favorite brand of tomatoes to use is bionaturae.
I saute onions and then I add the tomato sauce and paste. I also add herbs like basil and oregano. I can't even remember the last time that I had a store bought sauce. I started making my own tomato sauce when I was a kid and became addicted ever since :) It just tastes so much better!
The sauce I made with this dish did not include onions because Sophie is allergic to them. I either make her a sauce on the side without onions or just make a sauce without them for everyone, which I did this time. So, if you are allergic to onions or don't like them, you can definitely leave them out!
The grand shells by tinkyada are really fun to use and we like to experiment with creating things to stuff them with. Next, I'm thinking some type of squash. There will be more recipes to come that include these shells - yum!
And if your house is like mine, then topping with olives is a must :)
-heather
