When Karen Young of popular home-based pastry brand Karen’s Kitchen got a Rotary Exchange scholarship in New Jersey, she didn’t expect to emerge from the program with a renewed passion for cooking.
“When my Rotary mom Shirley Strong met me for the first time, she hugged me like her long lost daughter. It was she who inspired me in cooking,” says Karen.
Businesswoman by day and home chef by night, Strong learned the ways of the kitchen from her mom Minnie Conklin, an excellent cook herself. Mother and daughter are instinctive in the kitchen, not bound by recipes at all.
Since dad Strong hails from Italy, Italian food made up most of their dinner meals. They had Italian home-style tomato pasta sauce with lasagna or Italian sausage or meatballs, but it was the cheese-stuffed shells that Karen loved the most.
Now at 78, mom Strong continues to cook her meals independently just as her own mother did.
Back here, Karen gets to prepare this special dish for her sons Kristoffer and Matthew every so often, and to their delight.
Italian Home-Style Stuffed Shells
Ingredients:
- 1 340-g pack of jumbo pasta shells
- ¼ c olive oil
- 2 medium red onions, chopped
- half a head of garlic, chopped
- 8 c canned, diced tomatoes
- 3½ tbsp brown sugar
- ¾ tsp pepper
- 2 tbsp dried oregano
- 10 medium-size fresh basil leaves, cut into strips, plus more for garnish
Ingredients for the filling:
- 500 g ricotta cheese
- 200 g Parmesan cheese, grated, plus more for topping
- 200 g mozzarella cheese, shredded, plus more for topping
- 100 g Italian-style breadcrumbs
- 1 c fresh milk
- 10-12 medium-size fresh basil leaves, cut into strips
1. Prepare pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
2. Pour olive oil in a large saucepan on medium heat. When hot, add onions and cook until transparent. Add garlic sauté until golden. Add diced tomatoes. Mix well.
3. Add sugar, salt, pepper, oregano and mix well. Add fresh basil. Simmer covered over low heat for 25 minutes, stirring every once in a while.
4. Preheat oven to 350ºF.
5. In a bowl, place all ingredients for the filling. Mix well. Place filling in a large piping bag. Stuff cooked shells with cheese mixture. Place basil strips equally on top of the filling. Set aside.
6. In baking dish, pour enough tomato sauce to cover the pasta shells halfway. Place each stuffed shell on the pool of sauce. With a small ladle, pour more sauce across the shells, like a belt across the “waistline.” Sprinkle with mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses then fresh basil strips. Cover with foil, making sure it doesn’t touch the shells.
7. Bake for 30 minutes. Serve hot.
Tip: In place of the pasta shells, you can use cannelloni.