Salmon Stuffed Shells.
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Pasta is always a comforting and satisfying meal but in the springtime I find that we don't want a heavy lasagne style dish and I often find myself using salmon or prawns. Although French people seem to love pasta I can't seem to find the giant pasta shells. When I went back to the UK in December I managed to find them and brought a few bags back. If you can't get them where you are you can order them from Bellavita who sell fantastic Italian ingredients in the UK. If you order any item through this link with my code of 22112704 you will receive a discount whilst supporting the running of this site in a modest way!
I used frozen salmon portions which I defrosted and poached in milk for about 5 minutes until lightly cooked through. Drain the liquid from the salmon to use for the sauce then flake the salmon and combine with creme fraiche, seasoning and fresh dill.
Cook the pasta for about ⅔ of the cooking time, drain and cool. In the meantime make the sauce by combining the salmon milk, butter and flour in a saucepan and whisk over a medium heat until thickened. Stir in some grated cheese, seasoning and some grated nutmeg then pour the sauce into a large ovenproof dish.
Fill the pasta shells with the salmon mixture and place salmon side up then arrange the broccoli around the shells.
Sprinkle with Parmesan and more grated cheese if liked and bake in the oven for about 20 minutes.
I think this is a great dish for spring and asparagus or prawns would work well too.
If you like these Salmon Stuffed Shells you might like Linguine with Prawns and Asparagus
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Table of Contents
Salmon Stuffed Shells
Ingredients
- 750 g salmon fillets
- 500 g giant pasta shells (24)
- 500 ml milk
- 25 g butter
- 25 g flour
- 250 ml creme fraiche
- 1 broccoli florets quartered
- seasoning
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- 100 g cheese grated
- 25 g Parmesan grated
- 1 tbsp fresh dill or 1 tsp dried
Instructions
- Poach the salmon in the milk for 5 minutes until lightly cooked then drain the milk into a saucepan and flake the salmon before mixing with the creme fraiche and dill. Season to taste.
- Cool the broccoli until just cooked and cook the pasta for ⅔ of the cooking time, according to the instructions. Drain and cool.
- Make the cheese sauce by adding the flour and butter to the reserved milk then whisking over a medium heat until thickened. Add the grated cheese, check the seasoning and add the nutmeg before pouring onto the base of an oven proof dish.
- Spoon the salmon mixture into the shells and arrange in the dish before adding the broccoli.
- Add the grated Parmesan and more cheese if liked then bake at 180 for 20 minutes.
Thanks Beth. We are real broccoli fans here and it's a perfect comfort food.
Thanks Pam. Cooking the salmon in milk is a bit of a cheat but it's so quick and then using the milk for the sauce adds extra flavour too.
Thanks Caroline. I love salmon with pasta and I often throw broccoli into a fish pie too.
I just made a variation on stuffed shells for the first time myself recently and we loved them. I still have part of the packet left and I love the idea of trying a salmon version, especially with the broccoli.
I love that you poached the salmon in milk! I've never tried that! The whole dish sounds like my idea of comfort food!
Oh! My family will love this recipe! We love everything in it! Yum!
Thanks Susan. The recipe is quite simple and I'm sure the children would love to do the filling bit!
I have to admit, rather nervously, that I have never used giant pasta shells or filled them before, but there is something about this that really appeals to me and I think the children would love it too, I adore salmon with pasta. I've only just eaten and already I am hungry again!!