Taco Stuffed Pasta Shells

TACO STUFFED PASTA SHELLS WITH FRESH VEGETABLE AND BLUE CORN TORTILLA CHIP TOPPING

Not too long ago, a friend of ours made a dish called taco pasta shells that she said her mother used to make. She said, “it’s definitely a midwestern thing.” And then I tried it.

The top layer is riddled with fresh cut vegetables, and of course, there’s cheese.

As soon as I ate the first bite of her recipe, I knew I had to make it, and made some changes. Not much, but I definitely wanted some hatch chilis and enchilada sauce in there. Oh and some blue corn chips and avocados.

You can also add dollops of sour cream to your plate. It definitely adds to that childhood taco experience.

TACO STUFFED PASTA SHELLS WITH FRESH VEGETABLE AND BLUE CORN TORTILLA CHIP TOPPING RECIPE

Ingredients

Taco Shell Bake Toppings

• 2 tomatoes, diced

• 1 green bell pepper, diced

• 1 orange bell pepper, diced

• 2 green onion stalks, diced

• 1/2 small red onion, diced

• 1 avocado, peeled and diced

• 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped

• 1 lime, to squeeze over toppings and set aside in fridge until time to use

Red Sauce Ingredients

• 1 cup of Ortega red sauce

• 1 cup of red enchilada sauce

• 1 small can of chipotle sauce

Taco Shell Layer Covering Ingredients

• 1 bag of Shredded Mexican Cheese

• handfuls of crunched blue corn tortilla chips

Taco Shell Stuffing Ingredients

• box of large pasta shells ( I use about 25 incase a few tear in boil, recipe makes 20)

• 1 lb of lean ground beef

• 8 oz cream cheese

• 1 small can of green hatch chilis

• 1 packet of taco seasoning of choice

• black pepper and salt to taste (not too much salt)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Spray a 9X13” baking tray.

In a medium bowl, cut all fresh topping ingredients, and squeeze the lime last so that it can sit in the fridge until you’re ready to top the baked pasta shells.

In a medium skillet or cast iron, sauté the ground beef until just cooked and add in taco seasoning and salt and pepper. Add in hatch chilis. Set aside in a bowl that has room for the cream cheese after it cools.

While the beef is cooling, start to boil water in a large pot for the pasta shells. They should only cook for about 10 minutes once the water is at a rolling boil. You can also salt the water before the boil.

Also while the water is heating to boil, mix in a large measuring pyrex or bowl, all the sauces together because you will be creating the one sauce from three. Set aside until you’re ready to line the baking tray.

Once the water is ready, boil the noodles for 10 minutes.

You can add the cream cheese to the taco beef and chili mixture. Fold in until fully mixed in.

When the noodles are ready, use colander and then lightly spray with cold water in colander so you can quickly separate the shells. They will most likely stick inside others, and they will be hot. This will help your fingers to tolerate the hot shells quickly.

Take a couple ladle fulls of the sauce mixture to line the sprayed baking tray just so that it covers it thinly.

Stuff each shell with the taco meat cream mixture so that it is just completely full. You can overstuff, but I wouldn’t.

You should be able to squeeze in 5 shells per 4 rows in the baking tray.

Next, ladle in more sauce over the stuffed shells so that it’s generously covered.

Take the bag of shredded mexican cheese, and generously cover the sauce. There really aren’t measurements here, just generously coat the layers.

Place in middle rack in oven for 20-25 minutes until cheese is golden and melted.

Remove from oven.

Sprinkle crunched blue corn chips covering the cheese.

Now, take the taco shell vegetable topping mixture and cover using almost all of it to cover the chips.

You can also chop more cilantro to use for your plate once you’ve got your shells.

You will also have left over sauce for if you want more on your plate. Don’t toss it!