Mexican-Inspired Stuffed Shells

The children are quietly eating now as I type. Quietly. Eating. (*pausing for dramatic effect*)

I know.

At the market this Sunday, Audrey asked that we buy large pasta shells. Considering she abhors Italian red sauce as well as stuffed pasta of any kind, I was momentarily flummoxed ... until I remembered Pinterest. For the uninitiated, Pinterest is basically a virtual cork board. When you find a recipe/web picture/article you want to save, you create a Board and "pin" it on there. The difference between this and a browser bookmark list is that Pinterest shows you your "pins" as thumbnails, playing on the consumer's visual memory.

Over a month ago I had pinned a recipe for Taco Stuffed Shells. I asked Audrey if she thought she would eat those and tossed the shells in the cart when she nodded. Oooooooook. I didn't expect Maddie to eat the results - she hates chicken, salsa, mixed ingredients ... somebody stop me.

I took to pinterest and, oddly enough, quickly discarded the recipe I'd pinned. After researching a few more recipes, I realized I would need to create my own. Most of the recipes I found used cream cheese to mimic the texture of a traditional Italian stuffed shell. That would never fly with my sensory kiddo, so took the yummiest recipe I could find, halved it (it made A LOT) , tweaked the ingredients and some of the proportions and went from there. If you like a more creamy, traditionally textured stuffed shell, check out the original recipe here on Busy-at-Home.

And the small people are inhaling them.



I know.

Mexican-Inspired Stuffed Shells
2 cups diced or shredded cooked chicken (I used diced rotisserie)
1 can rinsed black beans
4 scallions, chopped
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2tsp Chili con carne seasoning (or chili powder, your own substitute)
1 cup diced bell pepper (your favorite color)
2-3 cups cheddar or similar shredded cheese

1-2 cups salsa/picante sauce/taco sauce (spiciness will increase with cooking ... choose your level of spice wisely)

1 box large pasta shells
2 tbl oil


Mix first six ingredients together in a large bowl. Add one cup of the shredded cheese and blend. This mixture as it is now can also be used to top nachos, fill burritos or just eat on it's own as a cold chicken salad.



Prepare a large baking dish for the shells by spreading the bottom with your salsa/etc.

Boil a large pot of water and add your oil - this will help your cooled shells not stick together before filling. Cook shells al dente (still firm) or they will be difficult to stand up for filling. Drain and rinse with cool water.

One at a time, hold a cool shell in your hand and scoop in some of the chicken mixture. I found an ice cream scoop like this one made quick work of the task. Each shell held just shy of one scoop. Set the filled shell open-side up on the salsa in the pan. My pan fit twenty Barilla shells, which is perfect for one meal at my house. Big eaters may want to double the recipe above and make two pans. Or more. Repeat this process until you have filled all the shells. . Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top. Cover it with as much as you need to make you weep with cheese goodness. I have no cheese left now, but that's not your problem. Unless you live nearby and deliver cheese...

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Cover and cook for 20-30 minutes. If you have made this ahead and refrigerated it prior to, place pan in cold oven before turning it on. This will allow the pan to warm up gradually and reduce the risk of exploding glass pans. Because then you will be out a pan AND all that cheesy goodness. Whimper.

Since everything is cooked in this dish, you are just heating through so you can play fast and loose with the heating times as you wish. I had kids in the shower and kept it cooking longer than I planned but it still turned out fantastic.This recipe also made about two cups more filling than I needed to fill twenty shells ... which will be gone by tomorrow night since the kids keep asking for bowls of it.

This dish doesn't need any additional grains/starches and is well accompanied by cold raw veggies or a crisp salad.



**I am in no way connected or receive reimbursement/product/kickbacks/magic powers from any of the companies mentioned here. All products mentioned were purchased by me, generally using standard shipping which I immediately regretted as it takes too flipping long.**