Easy Stuffed Pasta

"I made these Easy Stuffed Pasta Shells in my Instant pot and that was just so cool. The pasta held it’s shape, yet it cooked in this rich meaty, tomato sauce. Family devoured it and that is all that counts.”

For the filling
500 g/ 1.1 lbs ground beef – topside if possible
1 onion – grated
2 slices of white bread – soaked in water
1 tbsp Worcester Sauce
2 tsp salt
½ cup chopped parsley
1/2 tsp ground coriander
5 ml coarsely ground pepper

Soak bread in water for about 2 minutes. Squeeze the bread to remove all the water and add, with all other ingredients to the ground beef. Mix with your hands, but do not over-mix. Stuff the dry pasta shells with the meatball mix.

For the tomato sauce
1 x 410g/0.9lbs chopped tomatoes
15 ml/ 1 tbsp tomato paste
1 large onion – chopped
30 ml / 2 tbsp olive oil
1 – 2 cloves of garlic – crushed
2 cups of water – or use 1 cup red wine and one cup water
salt and pepper to taste
zest and juice of a lemon
sugar – we like the sauce to be a little sweet.
125 ml chopped herbs of your choice, I prefer parsley, basil or thyme.

To finish off
250 ml / 1 cup – grated mozzarella
to serve – grated parmesan

Set the Instant Pot on Sauté mode and add the olive oil. Add the chopped onions and garlic and sauté until translucent. Add all the other ingredients and cook the sauce for about 5 minutes. Taste until you are happy.

Pack the stuffed pasta shells in the sauce, they can be in two layers. Close the lid and move the Pressure Release Valve to Sealing. Set to MEAT STEW, High Pressure (click MEAT/STEW to change between high and low pressure), and use the + – buttons and select 20 minutes.

At the end of the 20 min cycle, switch the pot off and allow the pot to do a Natural Pressure Release for about 10 minutes. Now turn the steam release knob to the Venting position, this will release all the steam.

When the pin in the lid drops down, you can open the lid. Use a spoon and carefully remove the pasta shells and place in an oven casserole. Pour some of the sauce over the pasta shells, top with the cheese and pop under the grill just to melt the cheese.

For more recipes by Nina, head to the link below:

https://www.my-easy-cooking.com/recipes/