Tie Dye Stuffed Shells

TIE DYE STUFFED SHELLS😍

If you’ve ever been to Rubirosa in New York, you know their tye dye pizza SLAPS. It has swirls of vodka sauce and pesto, and is extra cheesyyyy. These stuffed shells are inspired by their pizza, and results in a decadent baked pasta dish festive enough for your holiday celebrations. You are going to love this!

Note:

• You can choose to use store bought pesto, or make your own. I have tested this with both, and both taste great!

• This is great to make ahead!! I would recommend making this up until the baking part, then baking just before serving. You don’t want to bake twice or else you run the risk of drying out the dish.

Serves 8. 

Ingredients:

For the Tie Dye Stuffed Shells:

• 8oz jumbo shells

• 4 oz low moisture mozzarella, sliced or shredded (about 1 cup)

• ½ cup freshly grated parmesan

• ½ - ¾ cup homemade or store bought pesto (recipe here)

For the filling:

• 1 lb ricotta cheese (about 2 cups)

• 1 head roasted garlic, mashed (optional)

• 1 cup shredded low moisture mozzarella cheese

• 1 cup freshly grated parmesan

• ½ cup pesto 

• Salt and pepper to taste

For the Vodka Sauce:

• 2 shallots, chopped finely

• 6 oz tomato paste (¾ cup)

• 1 tbsp butter

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• Salt and pepper

• 6-8 cloves minced garlic

• 1-2 tsps calabrian chili paste (or red pepper flakes)

• ⅓ cup vodka

• 1½ cups heavy cream

• ½ - 1 cup pasta water 

• ¾ cup freshly grated parmesan

• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

For the Tie Dye Stuffed Shells:

• Start by roasting your garlic. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and cut off the top ¼ of the garlic head. Place the garlic cut side up on a sheet of tin foil, drizzle with olive oil, and season with a pinch of salt. Wrap the garlic in the foil like a little purse and bake for 40-60 minutes or until tender. Let cool, squeeze out the garlic cloves, and mash.

• If you are making your own pesto, do so next by following the recipe here. 

• Make your filling by whipping together the ricotta cheese, roasted garlic, mozzarella, parmesan, and salt and pepper to taste. Taste and adjust seasonings. Gently swirl in about ½ cup of fresh pesto and set aside (you don’t want to overmix, just nice little pockets of pesto).

• Get a large pot of salt water to boil.

• Now work on your vodka sauce. Heat up 1 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp of olive oil in a large pan on medium heat. Add in the shallots and a pinch of salt and cook until soft and translucent. Add in the garlic and calabrian chilies and cook for 1 minute. Add the tomato paste and cook for 5-6 minutes on medium low heat, stirring occasionally until deeper in color. 

• While the tomato paste is cooking, add the shells to your pot of boiling water and cook until al dente. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water, drain the pasta, and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking process.

• Once the tomato paste has deepened in color, increase the heat back to high and add in your vodka, stirring often. Let the alcohol cook out for 2-3 minutes or until all liquid has evaporated.

• Reduce the heat back to low and add in your heavy cream, stirring until well combined. Add in ½ cup of pasta water and your parmesan cheese and stir until smooth. If you want a looser sauce you can add a bit more pasta water. Season to taste.

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

• Spread ¾ of your vodka sauce out on the bottom of a 9x13 pan.

• Add your ricotta filling to a ziplock bag in one corner, and cut ½” off the corner. Pipe about 1 tbsp of filling into each shell and add them to the pan. Continue until you have used up all the filling.

• Dollop the remaining vodka sauce over the shells, and top with the mozzarella and parmesan cheeses.

• Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes covered, then uncover and bake for 10 minutes more. If you want the cheese more bubbly and browned, broil for 1-2 minutes. 

• Just before serving, top with generous spoonfuls of fresh pesto. Serve immediately and enjoy!