Pasta comes in all sorts of glorious shapes and sizes but have you ever experimented with giant pasta shells? Trust us, you’ll love them!

SERVES 4 // COOK TIME 20 min

INGREDIENTS
500g jumbo conchigile
2 tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1 cup roughly chopped spinach
2 x 230g tubs smooth cottage cheese, at room temperature
¼ cup grated hard cheese
2 eggs 
2x 400g jars tomato and basil pasta sauce
To serve 
Handful of grated hard cheese
Handful of basil

METHOD
1. Preheat oven to 230 • C
2. Cook pasta in a pot of salted boiling water for about 7 minutes, until the pasta is al dente.Drain and set aside to cool.
3. Heat olive oil in a pan over high heat, then fry garlic until golden. Add the spinach and cook for 2 minutes until soft. Remove from heat.
4. Combine cottage cheese, hard cheese and eggs in a bowl. Mix in spinach then season with salt and pepper to taste.
5. Pour the tomato and basil sauce into a skillet plan and smooth the surface. Fill each pasta shell with cottage cheese mixture, then arrange them in a circular pattern on top of the sauce.
6. Bake for 12-15 minutes until the sauce bubbles and the shells are slightly crisp.
7. To serve, garnish the pasta shells with extra hard cheese.

Get your fill with this super quick and easy balsamic mushroom pasta. The incredible flavour will have you heading back for seconds!

The post Spinach and cheese-stuffed pasta shells  appeared first on MyKitchen.

There’s nothing like a steaming bowl of pasta! This pea and bacon pasta dish is a yummy dinner you can whip up in no time, and it’s great for leftovers.

SERVES 4–6 // COOKING TIME 30 min

INGREDIENTS
200 g streaky bacon, chopped
1 onion, diced
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 L vegetable stock
300 g pasta shells
1 cup peas, cooked
1 cup cream
Handful parsley, chopped

METHOD
1. Heat some vegetable oil and fry the bacon, onion and garlic until bacon begins to brown and onion is translucent.
2. Add the stock and bring to the boil. Add the pasta and cook for 8–10 minutes, until the water has reduced by ½.
3. Blend peas, cream and parsley in a food processor until smooth.
4. Stir the sauce into the pasta. Season with salt and pepper.

Recipe & styling: Amerae Vercueil
Photography: Samantha Pinto // HMimages.co.za

The post Pea and bacon pasta shells appeared first on MyKitchen.