Bolognese Stuffed Conchiglioni – Stuffed Giant Shell Pasta

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The humble Spaghetti Bolognese is likely a staple dinner in your household. It is one of the most popular home cooked meals on the planet because of how easy it is to make and how delicious it is. However, let’s face it. It’s kind of boring right? After your 1,000^th Spaghetti Bolognese you’re probably looking for something a bit different. Well, we’ve got you covered! Try this amazing Bolognese Stuffed Conchiglioni recipe, otherwise known as Bolognese Stuffed Giant Pasta Shells! The techniques are like a traditional Bolognese, but the result is so much more impactful and fun!

What is Conchiglioni?

Conchiglioni is a somewhat less common type of Pasta that comes from the southern part of Italy. It is basically a typical Shell Pasta, but enormous! They’re about 10 times the size of traditional Shell Pasta, and are perfect for stuffing with all kinds of goodies

Other than Bolognese, it is very popular to stuff these Pasta Shells with Ricotta Cheese and some Spinach. In fact, we may give that recipe a try soon as this recipe will only require about half the pack of a traditional Conchiglioni serving. Don’t be deceived by the amount of Bolognese you’re making either, as these Shells can hold a LOT of sauce in them

Making the best Bolognese Stuffed Conchiglioni is all about the meat sauce

For this recipe we’re keeping this super traditional and stuffing the Shells with a great quality homemade Bolognese made with ground beef. Our homemade Bolognese recipe has been a staple of our household for years and it stands up to anything you can get in top notch restaurants

There are a few techniques we use to make the best version of a homemade Bolognese Sauce which we will, of course, share with you in this recipe!

Use a mix of Ground Beef and Pork

The combination of Pork and Beef flavor makes for the most amazing Bolognese. Ground Pork is naturally quite fatty so you’re going to get that Bolognese loaded with delicious flavor from that aspect. We like to scale back the Beef fat content a little bit (12 – 15% is fine) because of how fatty the Pork is. The addition of the Beef adds a lovely flavor that contrasts so well with the Pork. Sure you could just use one type of meat, but if you can use two, why not?

For a more ‘upscale’ version of a Bolognese Sauce you can use Beef Short Ribs. The challenge with Beef Short Ribs is they will take ages to break down enough to turn into that beautiful tender texture. The Short Ribs will take about 3 hours at a low temperature to be ready, whereas ground meat is a much quicker, simpler, and cheaper alternative

Avoid the ready-made Pasta Sauce and stick with Canned Tomatoes

You can extract an amazing amount of flavor out of Canned Tomatoes, making them perfect for a Homemade Bolognese Sauce. We like to use Mutti, but there’s loads of good options to choose from. While not mandatory, aim for San Marzano Canned Tomatoes for the best overall flavor

The tomatoes are cooked down along with the classic combination of Onions, Garlic, Celery, and Carrots. We also like to add some fresh Thyme straight into the Pot and let that all simmer down together

Nothing like adding a little bit of Red Wine into a Red Sauce

Reducing Red Wine brings the most wonderful, concentrated sweetness to a Bolognese Sauce. I know many recipes suggest that you add some Sugar to the sauce to add sweetness, however it is completely not necessary. Just use some Wine. Not only do you get that beautiful sweetness, but an added layer of complexity to the Sauce which truly elevates it to restaurant quality

Be ‘heavy handed’ with the Salt and thank us later

We’re not shy with adding Salt to our home cooking here at Dinnertime Somewhere. Some people are afraid to go overboard with Salt, especially in dishes like Bolognese. Trust us when we tell you a Bolognese sauce can handle a lot of Salt. It will bring so much more flavor to the dish and is much needed in the Bolognese Stuffed Conchiglioni

As always we recommend always tasting your food and adjusting the seasoning as you cook. Add Salt once the Vegetables go in, and then add more once those Tomatoes are added. Taste it right after you’ve finished the 1-hour simmer and season again (if needed) before you start to stuff the Shells and bake the dish

You’ll be amazed just how much Bolognese you can stuff into the Pasta Shells

These shells are massive and can hold so much Bolognese! For this recipe we cook about 8 oz. / 250g of the Conchiglioni, which is about ½ a typical pack. I was shocked at how much Bolognese these can hold. In fact, we ended up using 500g of Meat, 2 cans of Tomatoes and a load of vegetables, and still had some leftover shells once they were all stuffed!

If you miraculously do still have some Bolognese sauce leftover once all of the Pasta Shells are stuffed then we recommend adding the sauce to the baking pan. Just let it sit at the bottom of the pan as you roast it all in the oven. There’s no point letting any Bolognese go to waste, and it’ll taste plenty great by itself!

Bolognese Stuffed Conchiglioni Recipe

Ingredients

• 250g / 9 oz. Conchiglioni Pasta (Giant Shell Pasta)
• 800g / 28 oz. Canned Crushed Tomatoes
• 2 tbsp. Tomato Paste
• 1 cup of Red Wine
• 250g / 9 oz. Ground Beef
• 250g / 9 oz. Ground Pork
• 1 Brown Onion, peeled and finely diced
• 2 Celery Stalks, finely diced
• 1 Carrot, peeled and finely diced
• 4 Sprigs of Thyme
• 4 Garlic Cloves, finely diced
• ½ cup grated Parmesan Cheese
• 1 tbsp. Chives, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp. Olive Oil
• Salt
  
  

Instructions

1. Heat the Olive Oil over medium heat in a large pot or dutch oven then add the Onions, Celery, Carrot and 1 tsp. of Salt. Cook for 5 minutes stirring frequently
2. Add the Garlic and cook for 1 minute then add the Ground Beef and Pork and cook until browned (about 5 minutes). Break up the Ground Meat then add Tomato Paste and (optional) Red Wine and cook while stirring until the wine has reduced by half
3. Add the Canned Crushed Tomatoes, Thyme, and ½ tbsp. of Salt. Mix well, bring to a boil then drop the heat to a Simmer.  Simmer for 1 hour until the sauce has thickened then remove from stove and allow to cool
4. While the Bolognese sauce is cooling, add the Conchiglioni Pasta to a large pot filled with salted boiling water and cook until tender (about 8 minutes). Strain and allow to cool
   
   

Assembling the Bolognese Stuffed Conchiglioni

5. Once the ingredients have cooled, spoon a generous amount of the Bolognese into each Pasta Shell. You should be able to fit a heaped teaspoon per each shell
6. Continue until you’ve stuffed all the shells then lay them onto a baking tray, stacking them above each other to completely fill it. You can scatter any leftover Bolognese sauce around the shells
7. Finish the dish with grated Parmesan Cheese and then bake in the oven for 15 minutes at 400F. Remove from the oven and finish with some Flaky Salt and chopped Chives. Serve immediately
   
   

Recipe Notes

• Adding Red Wine is optional to the sauce. If you do not want to use Wine, you can replace it with ½ tsp of Sugar to add some sweetness to the Bolognese
• You can make the Bolognese Sauce ahead of time. It’ll keep for a few days in the refrigerator. In fact, the flavors will only intensify during that time!
  
  

We hope you enjoy this delicious Bolognese Stuffed Conchiglioni recipe, a great way to jazz up a traditional Spag Bol meal at home

If you enjoyed this recipe then we recommend you check out some of these other hearty, delicious recipes we’ve created:

• Greek Gyros Chicken with Fries
• Chicken Yaki Udon Noodles
• Authentic General Tso’s Chicken
• Pork Schnitzel with German Potato Salad
  
  

Happy Cooking!