Canederli, the tastiest bread balls there are from South Tyrol

Cousins of baked pasta, stuffed conchiglioni are the perfect idea for Sunday lunch, being very simple to make and versatile. In fact, you can try many different condiments, just like with lasagna or with baked pasta. The only unmissable ingredient are precisely conchiglioni, or the format of pasta to be filled. The beauty of this dish is that it can be prepared in advance and then baked if necessary and even frozen. Let's see immediately some recipes for preparing a lunch with flakes!

Stuffed conchiglioni, the classic recipe

The

first recipe for stuffed conchiglioni is the classic one with meat sauce, which everyone really likes. This is a simple but effective preparation, which is also very popular with children. The recipe, for 4 people, includes:
• 200g of conchiglioni
• 350ml of tomato puree
• 350g of minced meat
• 150g of mozzarella
• 1 egg
• 20g of Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 onion
• 1 carrot
• 1 slice of celery
• white wine
• ½ liter of bechamel sauce (optional)
• salt
• oil

Make the meat sauce. Sauté the chopped vegetables in a saucepan with oil and add the minced meat and sauté, deglazing with half a glass of white wine.
Add 150 ml of tomato puree and let it cook for about ten minutes to reduce the sauce, then turn off and let it cool down. Cut the mozzarella into cubes, beat the egg and some Parmesan cheese with a pinch of salt, then mix everything and add to the meat, which in the meantime must be cooled.
Preheat the oven to 200°C and cook the conchiglioni al dente in plenty of salted water, then drain and let them cool. Fill the conchiglioni with the meat filling, then arrange a layer of simple tomato sauce prepared in advance with the remaining tomato, possibly mixed with half a liter of bechamel sauce. Place a couple of spoons of sauce on the baking tray, then place the stuffed conchiglioni next to it and cover them with more sauce, sprinkling with plenty of Parmesan cheese. Bake at 200 degrees and cook for 15 minutes. Bon Appetit!

Stuffed conchiglioni and bechamel sauce

, a unique pair

Before trying your hand at stuffed conchiglioni, it is good to prepare the bechamel sauce, always assuming that you like it. Bechamel sauce is the queen of baked pasta, a real must to make your dishes a little tastier and more sophisticated. Also called the 'mother sauce' thanks to its versatility, bechamel sauce is one of those preparations that always go well and are a real passe-partout. In fact, this sauce gives the opportunity to dilute the sauce if you don't have enough to cover all the pasta or to prepare beautiful shells stuffed in white, without resorting to tomatoes. For your stuffed conchiglioni, we therefore offer you the perfect bechamel recipe, which you can use at will for your Sunday pasta.
For half a liter of bechamel sauce you will need:
• 50 g of butter
• 50 g of flour
• 1/2 liter of milk

In a small pot, heat the milk, allowing it to come close to the boil. In another pan, let the butter melt over moderate heat and add the sifted flour, stirring with a whisk, thus obtaining the roux. Pour in the milk and keep stirring on low heat until it starts to boil. Add the salt and nutmeg, then let it simmer until it is the right density, then remove from the heat. If it's too thick, add a little more milk.
If I didn't have butter available, no problem. Prepare the roux in the same way using 40g of olive oil for 50g of flour. The result is guaranteed!

Conchiglioni ricotta and spinach, a

light and tasty version

Ricotta and spinach conchiglioni are a simple and tasty version of stuffed pasta, an excellent vegetarian alternative ideal for eating vegetables in a different way.
For 4 people you will need

• 300g of Conchiglioni
• 1 kg of fresh spinach
• 400g of Ricotta (including sheep's)
• 1 egg
• 1/2 liter of Bechamel sauce
• 20g Butter
• 20g Parmesan cheese
• Q.b.Sale
• Q.b.Parmigiano

Reggiano for au gratin

Wash the spinach under running water and dry it well, then sauté it in a pan with a little butter, salting just enough. Let them wilt completely without adding water. Separately, cook the conchiglioni in plenty of salted water, then drain them al dente. Once the spinach is cooked, prepare the filling by mixing the ricotta and the chopped spinach, the egg and the Parmesan cheese. Mix well (possibly chop the spinach with a mixer) and fill the shells one by one with a coffee spoon. Take a baking dish and spread a couple of ladles of bechamel sauce on the bottom, then place the stuffed shells next to each other without overlapping them. Cover the surface with more bechamel sauce and sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese, then bake in a static oven preheated to 180°C for half an hour. At this point, let it cool for five minutes and then serve your stuffed conchiglioni with ricotta and spinach. They will be a hit!

Baked stuffed conchiglioni with mushrooms and sausage

The last recipe is very delicious, a recipe with the scent of the forest: these are shells stuffed in the oven with mushrooms and sausage, a mouth-watering dish!
With these stuffed shells you will make a great impression. The important thing is to have top quality ingredients on hand: champignon mushrooms or a mix of fragrant mushrooms, sausage and fresh provola cheese.
For 4 people:
• 300g Conchiglioni
• 300g champignon mushrooms/mixed mushrooms/cloves
• 200g Sausage
• 100g Provola cheese (or scamorza cheese)
• Half a liter of bechamel sauce
• 80g grated Parmigiano Reggiano
• 50ml white wine
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 sprig of parsley
• q.b. Extra virgin olive oil
• Salt, pepper

Clean the mushrooms by removing the earthy part of the stem and rinse them under cool water, then cut them into slices. In a pan, sauté the garlic cloves with a drizzle of oil until golden brown, then remove them from the pan and add the mushrooms. In the meantime, cut the sausages in half and remove the skin, then grate the meat with a fork and add everything to the pan with the mushrooms. Blend with the white wine and let it evaporate, then lower the heat and cover, letting it cook for about ten minutes. At this point, season with salt and pepper (you should taste it, because the sausage is very tasty). Separately, boil the conchiglioni al dente and add a drizzle of oil to make sure they don't stick together. Preheat the static oven to 220°, then separately place the mushrooms and sausage, half the bechamel sauce, the diced provola cheese and half the grated Parmesan cheese in a bowl, then mix. Place a nice spoonful of bechamel sauce on the bottom of the dish and place the stuffed conchiglioni. Coat everything with leftover bechamel and Parmesan cheese, then bake for a quarter of an hour. Once taken out of the oven, sprinkle the pasta with a little chopped parsley, you'll see