A simple yet impressive recipe is this one for light stuffed conchiglioni. I filled them with ricotta and spinach, a light filling, but with a little imagination you can create other fillings. Luckily even here in the Netherlands I can find this pasta shape; in the past I had to bring conchiglioni from Italy.
This is not a difficult recipe to make, but if you want to lighten it to reduce Weight Watchers points, a bit more care is required. In the end I managed to obtain a delicious, light and complete dish: a fresh side salad, a light dessert and the meal for holiday days is ready.
You can choose the topping you prefer. Here I show two more elaborate toppings: one with a light meat sauce and the second with a light béchamel. But if you want to save a few WW points you can make a simple tomato sauce: the light stuffed conchiglioni will be tasty that way too. Let’s prepare them.
Other light first courses for the holidays are here:
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Cooking time: 35 Minutes
- Portions: 4 (10 shells per serving)
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Healthy
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 40 conchiglioni (large shell pasta) (ridged; about 7 oz)
- 1 lb (about 16 oz) fresh spinach
- 7 oz (about 3/4 cup) ricotta
- 4.5 oz light mozzarella
- 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan (2 for the filling and 1 for the gratin topping)
- 6 oz lean ground beef
- 1 onion
- 1 clove garlic
- 14 oz (1 can) diced tomatoes
- 2 tsp dry white wine
- tsp sugar
- to taste fresh basil
- to taste salt and pepper
- 2 1/2 tbsp flour
- 1 1/2 tbsp butter
- 2 cups skim milk
- to taste salt and nutmeg
- WW points per serving with sauce or béchamel = 11 WW points
- WW points per serving without topping = 9 WW points
Steps
Boil the conchiglioni in salted water for half the cooking time indicated on the package. Drain them and immediately rinse with cold water to stop the cooking. While rinsing, separate any shells stuck together so they won’t stick as they dry.
Wash the spinach well and cook it without adding water for a couple of minutes, just until it wilts. Drain and let cool, then squeeze out excess liquid and chop. Dice the mozzarella and add it to the spinach and ricotta. Add two tablespoons of grated Parmesan, a little salt and pepper, and mix well until you get a creamy mixture.
Fill all the conchiglioni with the ricotta and spinach filling. I recommend starting with a teaspoon per shell and then adding a little more filling until it’s used up, so that all the shells are evenly filled.
First prepare the sauce using the indicated ingredients following this recipe: Light meat sauce. Put a couple of spoonfuls of sauce on the bottom of a baking dish.
Place the conchiglioni in the baking dish with the open side up and spread the remaining sauce over them. Finish with a tablespoon of grated Parmesan and bake at 356°F for about 30 minutes.
And here is the dish of light stuffed conchiglioni with meat sauce ready to serve.
Prepare the béchamel with the ingredients listed and following the method described here: Light béchamel. Put a couple of spoonfuls of béchamel on the bottom of a baking dish. Place the conchiglioni in the dish with the open side up and spread the remaining béchamel over them. Finish with a tablespoon of grated Parmesan and bake at 356°F for about 30 minutes.
And here are the ricotta and spinach stuffed conchiglioni with béchamel ready as well.
It’s hard to say which of the two sauces is the best: do what inspires you most and let me know which one you chose below in the comments or on Facebook.
Enjoy your meal!
by Giovanna Buono
Tips and storage
You can prepare the sauce and béchamel a couple of days in advance and keep them in the fridge. You can also assemble the baking dish the day before so that on the holiday you only have to bake it without much work.
You can refrigerate leftovers or freeze them. Reheat in the oven for about ten minutes from the fridge, or longer if frozen.
