Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Meyer Lemon and Squash Stuffed Shells


I got the idea for this dish after I made a wonderfully simple dish of mashed sweet potatoes with meyer lemon juice and a bit of cream, as the squash is similar enough in taste to the sweet potatoes. I also managed to use up several containers of leftovers from previous pasta dishes, and as such, filling quantities are estimates...

Makes about 1 dozen shells

  • 12 cooked jumbo pasta shells
  • 1 cup cooked squash (I mashed some cubed cooked squash I had, but you could use puree as well)
  • 1/2 cup chopped cooked spinach
  • 1 cup ricotta cheese
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
  • 1 small Meyer lemon, zested and juiced
  • Dash nutmeg
  • Garlic, basil, salt, pepper to taste
Combine all ingredients (except shells!) and stuff shells. Bake in covered casserole dish 20-30 minutes at 350 degrees. Sprinkle with more cheese if desired, or a simple lemon-cream sauce.

I made a simple roux with olive oil, flour, wine, lemon juice, basil, garlic and salt that dressed the shells lightly, and actually presented fairly well too!


5 comments:

Heather said...

Meyer lemons and squash are naturals together, and a really great choice for a pasta.

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Anonymous said...

OMG, that looks simply delicious. I wish I had a huge bowl of this right now!

AndreaQ said...

did you use butternut squash for these? Looks awesome!

Lydia said...

AndreaQ - I honestly can't remember what kind of squash I used for these, it was likely butternut, though, as it tends to be one of the best for all-purpose cooking and baking. Any winter squash would work fine here, however, including Acorn, Turban, Delicata, Hubbard, Red Kuri and many others.