Mushroom and Chicken Stuffed Pasta

It took me awhile to get back to stuffing some pasta shells after first attempt. So second recipe is featuring mushroom, chicken and cheese stuffing with cheese sauce on top.

A little bit heavy (pasta, cream, cheese), but also totally delicious I must say.

Not to hard to do, however will take some time to cook. And since leftovers can be easily reheated, can be great for lunch next day or two.

Pasta shells have tendency to break when cooked, so I usually boil few extra to make sure I have enough.

Ingredients:

  • 25-30 jumbo pasta shells
  • 1.5lb boneless skinless chicken thighs
  • 1lb bella mushrooms
  • 1 onion
  • 7oz of shredded 3 cheese blend (Fontina Cheese, Asiago and Parmesan)
  • Small bunch of fresh dill
  • 1 egg
  • 1.5 cups of heavy cream
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 1 tablespoon of butter
  • 1 tablespoon of oil
  • Ground black pepper to taste
  • Salt to taste

How to prepare, step-by-step:

  1. Prepare ingredients:
    Mushroom and Chicken Stuffed Pasta: Step 1
  2. Warm a deep skillet up with a tablespoon of oil, peel and chop onion and fry it over moderate heat until colored, stir from time to time:
    Mushroom and Chicken Stuffed Pasta: Step 2
  3. While onions are cooking, clean and chop mushrooms, then when onions are ready, add mushrooms to the skillet:
    Mushroom and Chicken Stuffed Pasta: Step 3
  4. Fry onions and mushrooms together, until liquid produced by mushrooms evaporates, continue stirring:
    Mushroom and Chicken Stuffed Pasta: Step 4
  5. Then add chopped chicken meat (I use knife to dice it thin, but I suppose chopping it in food processor would work as well):
    Mushroom and Chicken Stuffed Pasta: Step 5
  6. Cook everything for about 15 mins, stir from time to time, then season with salt and pepper to taste:
    Mushroom and Chicken Stuffed Pasta: Step 6
  7. Cook for 1-2 mins more, then scoop chicken-mushroom-onions mix into a bowl (preserve juices for sauce):
    Mushroom and Chicken Stuffed Pasta: Step 7
  8. Bring a pot with water to boil, salt to taste and cook pasta shells until al-dente (follow package instructions if needed, remove the water when ready, rinse and set aside to cool down):
    Mushroom and Chicken Stuffed Pasta: Step 8
  9. While pasta is cooking, let’s do the sauce. For that warm up a saucepan over moderate low heat, add about tablespoon of butter and chopped garlic:
    Mushroom and Chicken Stuffed Pasta: Step 9
  10. Fry for about 2 minutes (until fragrant), then pour cream in:
    Mushroom and Chicken Stuffed Pasta: Step 10
  11. Add juices remained from cooking chicken and mushrooms:
    Mushroom and Chicken Stuffed Pasta: Step 11
  12. Season with salt and pepper to taste:
    Mushroom and Chicken Stuffed Pasta: Step 12
  13. And about half of the cheese blend:
    Mushroom and Chicken Stuffed Pasta: Step 13
  14. Cook until cheese melted, stirring from time to time, then turn the heat off, sauce is ready:
    Mushroom and Chicken Stuffed Pasta: Step 14
  15. Now let’s finish up preparing stuffing, chicken and mushroom mix should have cooled down a bit by now. Add remainder of cheese blend to it:
    Mushroom and Chicken Stuffed Pasta: Step 15
  16. Add chopped dill:
    Mushroom and Chicken Stuffed Pasta: Step 16
  17. Crack an egg in:
    Mushroom and Chicken Stuffed Pasta: Step 17
  18. Mix everything:
    Mushroom and Chicken Stuffed Pasta: Step 18
  19. Warm up the oven to 350F. Using a spoon stuff each pasta shell with stuffing:
    Mushroom and Chicken Stuffed Pasta: Step 19
  20. Pour a bit of sauce at the bottom of the baking pan, then arrange all shells in the pan:
    Mushroom and Chicken Stuffed Pasta: Step 20
  21. And pour a bit of cheese sauce into each:
    Mushroom and Chicken Stuffed Pasta: Step 21
  22. Cover pan with foil and put to the oven for 30 mins, then remove foil and cook for 15 more, then remove from the oven:
    Mushroom and Chicken Stuffed Pasta: Step 22
  23. Serve stuffed pasta shells with sauce on top:
    Mushroom and Chicken Stuffed Pasta
Enjoy!