PPN: Pasta Shells Stuffed With Lamb, Feta Cheese, And Spinach

My cousins Charmayne and Keith came for dinner tonight. I haven't seen Keith, who lives in Virginia, in eons, so this was a special occasion for me.  Of course, it's always special to see Charmayne, but she lives in Sacramento.  I wanted an easy dinner to prepare, so I would be well rested and ready for the hilarity that ensued once they arrived. We talked about serious subjects too. Charmayne couldn't understand why I refuse to watch The Hills, but am a loyal viewer of The Real Housewives of Orange County.  It turned out that Keith also watches the surgically enhanced and make-up spackled ladies in Orange County.

I decided to make a baked pasta dish, and my first thought was to make lasagna. Instead, I made shells stuffed with lamb, feta cheese, and spinach, because I knew it would be was easy to assemble them the night before and store them in the fridge.  I don't have lamb very often, so I didn't substitute another meat for it. Frankly, lamb has such a distinctive taste, nothing can replace it successfully, in my opinion.  The dish was very good, but the next time I make it, I'll add golden raisins.  I think the sweetness would be great with the richness of the lamb and the tangy feta cheese.

This dish is my submission to Presto Pasta Night, which was started by the wonderful Ruth at Once Upon A Feast. Each Friday Ruth has a recap of wonderful pasta recipes from bloggers from all over the world.  So, do stop by and check it out.

Now, I have to clean up the kitchen.

Pasta Shells Stuffed With Lamb, Feta Cheese, And Spinach

(Williams-Sonoma Complete Pasta Book)

1-1/4 pound ground lamb
3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
8 ounces spinach stemmed and coarsely chopped (or use defrosted chopped spinach squeezed dry)
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
3-1/2 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
18 jumbo pasta shells
3 Tablespoons roasted pine nuts

Cook the lamb in a skillet over medium heat, breaking it up until it's no longer pink.  Drain off excess fat and add garlic and spinach and cook until spinach is wiled--about 2 minutes.  Cool to room temperature. Then add the lemon zest and feta cheese and toss to mix.   Add salt and pepper if necessary.

Cook the shells according to package direction in well salted water until almost al dente.  Drain carefully and run cold water over them.

Fill each pasta shell with the filling and place in a baking pan. You can keep it in the fridge, covered with plastic wrap, until you're reading to bake it.  When ready to bake, top with half of the spiced red sauce and the pine nuts.  Bake until heated through, but not browned.   Serve on individual plates and top with more sauce.

Spiced Red Sauce

1 cup canned tomato sauce
1/2 cup chicken broth
3 Tablespoons lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

Combine ingredients and bring to a boil. stir and set aside until ready to use it on the shells.

Comments

[Rosa]

That pasta dish looks delicious! It must be very tasty according to all the great ingredients you used...

Cheers,

Rosa

[Ruth]

I always love stuffed pasta shells and this one looks particularly tasty - including the lovely thin sauce. Thanks for sharing with Presto Pasta Nights.

[Peter]

What a nice twist using lamb in the filling. Anything stuffed are a nice surprise and fun to eat.

[Patricia Scarpin]

Sher, I haven't made pasta shells in many, many years. I don't know why, really. These are inspiring!

[RecipeGirl]

We love stuffed shells- and lamb is my fave. Sometimes it's tough to find the ground lamb though (curse my local market!)

Have you seen Real Housewives of NYC yet?

[Katie B.]

Those look so delicious!! I wish I could pop one in my mouth right now!

[gattina]

That shell on the 2nd photo seems ready going to my mouth! And your idea of adding golden raisins is really terrific!

[abby]

these look fabulous. and i bet were delicious too...

[ros]

That's a lovely dish to entertain with- they look very pretty. I'm addicted to pasta and I adore lamb. In my opinion the two aren't used in conjuction enough.

[Melly]

I love lamb and I love Feta cheese. Hell, I love anything remotely Greeky tasting!

Mouth-watering photos, as usual.

[Bunty]

I think I would like to taste this one

keep this in mind when I get to Calif.

Love, Bunty

[John]

Hey, I live in Virginia...would it be a special occasion if I came for dinner? I'm sure anything you make would be fine. ; )

[Callipygia]

Yes, yes golden raisins sounds perfect with the lamb. I'm not sure what is more interesting talking about the food or dishing about our fav guilty pleasure. I'd have to say mine would be Project Runway/Top Chef!

[Lydia (The Perfect Pantry)]

Such a nice combination of the Italian pasta and the greek spinach filling. Now that I've discovered Dreamfields low-carb pasta, I'm back to collecting pasta recipes again.

[Deb]

What a twist on stuffed shells! I love it! Mine are usually stuffed with tons of ricotta cheese and herbs. I tire of those easily. So thank you for such a grand new idea!

[MyKitchenInHalfCups]

I love all these ingredients and would totally go with the golden raisins idea! Looks terrific! Hope all that hilarity did let you clean up the kitchen and get some sleep.

[Tartelette]

I can'r relate to the shows but I am certainly wowed by the pasta dish! I love the pine nut peeking in the first picture! As you said, golden raisins would be wonderful in this!

[Kristen]

I adore stuffed shells. I am going to give this recipe a try! Yum!

[peabody]

Oh I love lamb. The hubs feels bad when eating it, not me. But I think if I did this I could sneak it in. :)

[sammawow]

I was just looking at pasta shells in the grocery store the other day and didn't know what to stuff them with - now I know! Your recipe sounds and looks delicious! I'm going back to the store for some shells!

[LiberalFoodie]

good, I am not the only one. There are other crazy adults out there that enjoy The Hills, Real housewives of OC. There's even the new season of Real housewives of NY. Do you like that one?

The shells look really good. It sounds a little greek with feta and lamb. What do you think of Oregano as an herb addition to the filling?

[Kevin]

With lamb, spinach, feta and pine nuts these sound really good!

[The Omnivore]

These sound wonderful! I know it's such an old post, but I stumbled upon it while brainstorming kreplach fillings and, inspired by this recipe, I stuffed them with lamb!

http://omnivorevegetarian.blogspot.com/2012/05/kreplach-pasta-stuffed-with-veggie.html

I miss your recipes, Sherry ...