They look like Sea Shells and come in two sizes, small and big - They are called Conchiglie and Conchiglioni i.e Jumbo Shells. And now that Ramadan is approaching and I am hoping you feed as many people as you can, I shall give you a simple, simple, recipe using Pasta Shells, the smaller ones. But first you will read my welcome note.
This what the pasta shells look like .
In Iraq, we call them "kathee mathee". Don't ask me why, I don't know. But the way we cook them for convenience sake is very much like a Turkish dish made of stuffed meat raviolis with yogurt. So basically this is the easy quick version of it.
For 2-3 persons you will need the following :
- 250 grams of minced beef (I use lean)
- about 250 grams of pasta shells
- 1 large onion finely chopped
- about 1.1/2 tsp of mixed spices
- salt and pepper to your liking
- 1 flat teaspoon of ground cinnamon
- 1 cube of beef stock (optional)
- 1 tbs of olive oil
- 1 tbs of vegetable oil
- 2 small cans of yogurt
- 1 large clove of garlic.
Preparation :
finely chop onions and stir fry until brownish in vegetable oil, add your minced meat, and spices plus cinnamon plus a dash of salt and pepper, until the mix is well cooked.
Meanwhile in a saucepan
- fill saucepan with boiling water, add olive oil, and beef stock (optional) and your pasta shells until cooked to your liking. Strain.
- mix pasta shells with cooked minced beef, add a little of the pasta water to it so it will not dry and leave for a few minutes on a low fire.
- crush garlic in yogurt, mix well, add salt if necessary.
Serve hot with garlic/yogurt mix on side, latter will be used like a sauce on top of the pasta shells.
Bon Appétit.