Spinach-Stuffed Shells with Tomato Concassé

I love pasta. I love summer. And summertime is a great season to experiment with new pasta dishes. After all, the farmers markets are filled with colorful vegetables that can star as delicious pasta ingredients. But summer also calls for pasta dishes that are lighter—and if they can be prepared ahead of time, so much the better.

When I saw Abby Mandel’s recipe for “Spinach-Stuffed Shells with Tomato Concassé” in the May 1989 issue of Bon Appétit, I knew it checked off a lot of boxes for our dinner menu. It combined flavors familiar in stuffed pasta—spinach, garlic, and cheese—but added notes of interest like ham, pine nuts, and balsamic vinegar. 

I also liked that the stuffed shells baked on a bed of freshly chopped tomatoes flavored with basil and a bit of olive oil.

During this season when tomatoes are plentiful, beautiful, and full of flavor, this is a great technique for making an easy, delicious sauce within a few minutes. The oven cooks the sauce within the baking dish, and the flavor of the fresh tomatoes boosts the lightness of this dish.

That fancy word concassé is a French term for fresh tomatoes that have been peeled, seeded, and finely diced. Mandel suggested—and I took—the easy route and skipped the step of peeling. We loved the result. 

The whole dish comes together pretty easily. While the water heats for boiling the pasta, you can stir together the ingredients for the filling. Mandel called for grinding stale bread slices for the stuffing in a food processor, but I decided to use panko crumbs instead. I changed up the cooking order a bit, giving the green onions a few more minutes of time in the skillet to become sweet and soft before adding the garlic and then the spinach. Mandel’s recipe created enough shells for 4 servings, but I increased volumes of ingredients to serve 6.

You can prepare the shells a day ahead of time up to the point of covering them with foil to bake. A light brush of olive oil on the shells before refrigerating will help them remain soft overnight. Once you place them in the oven, snugly covered with foil, the tomatoes help to baste the shells, imparting flavor and beautiful color.

The flavors within the shells—spinach, garlic, onions, breadcrumbs, Fontina cheese, ham, and seasonings—are one big happy family. Everyone gets along with the others. And sitting atop the fresh tomato sauce, they sing a happy summer song.

Spinach-Stuffed Shells with Tomato Concassé

Sunnyside Cook

Dawn Dobie

Pasta shells brimming with spinach and bright flavors on a bed of fresh tomato sauce

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 40 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Servings 6

Ingredients

  

For the shells

• 24 large pasta shells
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• 6 large green onions trimmed and chopped
• 5 garlic cloves minced
• 1 16-ounce container of frozen chopped spinach --defrosted and squeezed dry
• 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar or red wine vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon or more salt
• freshly ground pepper to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 8 ounces diced ham
• 3/4 cup panko bread crumbs
• 8 ounces Fontina cheese grated

For the tomato concassé

• 1 1/2 pounds fresh Roma tomatoes --stemmed, seeded and finely diced
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
• 3/4 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Instructions

 

• If making to serve immediately, preheat oven to 350 degrees.

For the pasta

• Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt the water generously and add pasta shells. Cook until al dente, using the smaller number of minutes on the package’s cooking directions. Drain. Rinse with cool water and drain again. Set aside.
• Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add pine nuts, and cook, stirring frequently until they turn golden in color. Remove from the oil with a slotted spoon to a small bowl.
• Reduce heat to medium low and add green onions to remaining warm oil in skillet. Cook for about 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add garlic and cook 1 additional minute.
• Add spinach to skillet, breaking up if it is clumped, and stir for about 1 minute. Add vinegar, salt, black pepper, chili flakes, and nutmeg. Cook for about 2 minutes to blend flavors. Remove from heat.
• Add ham, bread crumbs, grated cheese, and pine nuts to spinach mixture. Stir to combine.
• Fill each shell with spinach mixture.

For concassé

• Cut tomatoes in half lengthwise, removing stem end and squeezing to remove bulk of seeds. Cut into 3/8-inch dice. Mix tomatoes with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, dried basil, sugar, and salt. Spread along bottom of medium-sized casserole or oblong baking dish.
• Place shells on concassé mixture. Brush outside of shells with remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil. (Dish can be covered with foil snugly and refrigerated at this point. If cooking later, preheat oven to 350 and proceed.)
• Cover baking dish with aluminum foil, sealing tightly. Bake pasta shells for 30 minutes. Uncover and spoon tomato mixture over shells. Bake uncovered for 10 more minutes.
• Serve hot.

Notes

Can be prepared 1 day ahead of time. After brushing shells with oil, cover tightly with foil and refrigerate.

Adapted from a recipe created by Abby Mandel in Bon Appétit (May 1989)