I have to credit my Mum for this dish. It is her own recipe and has been a crowd favourite in my house for a long time, rain or shine. It's incredibly simple to make, and it's the oven that does all the work...
Cochiglioni Rigate (or other large pasta shell) 500g
Ricotta Cheese 250g
Mozzarella 125g
Grated Parmesan 100g
Fresh Chilli (x2)
Fresh Basil (Whole plant)
Fresh Tomato Sauce (See Zesty Meatballs recipe or other preferred)
1. Firstly get the pasta in some boiling water and cook for about 8-9 minutes. The packet should say about 13 but we are just softening the shells. Turn the oven to about 200 degrees.
2. Meanwhile, de-seed the chilli's and chop up a good handful of fresh basil. Grab a mixing bowl and load in the Ricotta, Mozzarella, grated Parmesan, Chopped Chilli, chopped Basil, Salt and Pepper (to taste). Mix all the ingredients together with your hands. The mixture should be relatively consistent.
3. Once the pasta has had its 8 minutes, drain and cool the shells. Grab an ovenproof dish and fill the bottom with your chosen pasta sauce. Then, start to fill each shell with the mixture using the back of a teaspoon to smooth.
4. Set out all the filled shells on top of the sauce. When the dish is in the oven, the sauce will kind of steam through the pasta giving it more flavour. Drizzle some extra sauce irregularly around the dish, leaving a fair few of the shells exposed. This will allow the pasta to crisp up and the cheese to go all golden and sexy.
5. Put the dish in the top of the oven for about 15-20 minutes. There's a fairly large margin for it burning so keep an eye on it every 5 minutes from about 15 and you can't go wrong.
6. Whip out the oven when you are happy with how it's looking, and serve up. It'll be bloody hot when it comes out so be wary of jeapordising your tongue for days to follow. Other than that, I hope you like it!
