Baked conchiglioni with pumpkin, walnuts, oregano + feta
Conchiglioni are a novelty pasta to cook with, large shells that make excellent vessels for stuffing with your favourite filling. Be sure to cook the shells until just al dente, as they will cook a little further in the sauce once baked. In this recipe, lentils and oregano add earthiness to the creamy pumpkin + walnut filling. Bathed in a rich roasted capsicum + tomato sauce, it’s a whole lotta good.
Top Tip - to make this vegan, leave out the feta, and season the pumpkin mixture with a little extra salt if desired.
hands-on time
45 minutes
1 hour 15 minutes
total time
serves
4-5
Ingredients
Stuffed conchiglioni
500g peeled butternut pumpkin, chopped into 2cm chunks
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp ground paprika
½ tsp ground cinnamon
sea salt, as desired
80g walnuts
400g can lentils, rinsed and drained
2 Tbsp chopped fresh oregano, plus extra to serve
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
juice of 1 lemon
4 cloves garlic, finely grated
½ tsp cracked black pepper
150g feta cheese
300g large conchiglioni pasta shells
Pasta sauce
2 medium-large red capsicums, cored, deseeded and halved
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
1 tsp ground paprika
½ tsp ground cinnamon
125ml red wine
400g can chopped tomatoes
4 Tbsp tomato paste
25g pitted kalamata olives, chopped
1 Tbsp fresh oregano leaves, finely chopped
1 Tbsp pomegranate molasses
185ml water
½ tsp cracked black pepper
sea salt, to taste
Method
Preheat the oven to 190°C fan-forced (210°C conventional). Line two large oven trays with baking paper.
First roast the vegetables and walnuts. Place the chopped pumpkin in a large bowl with the olive oil, paprika, cinnamon, and a little salt. Tip out onto one lined oven tray. Place the capsicum halves on the second oven tray. Place the two trays in the oven and roast for 25 minutes, turning the capsicums over at halfway. Add the walnuts to one of the trays and roast for a further 5 minutes, until the vegetables are softened and tender and the walnuts golden. Transfer the walnuts to a board, finely chop, and place in a small bowl for later. Set aside the vegetables to cool.
Reduce the oven temperature to 180°C fan-forced (200°C conventional).
For the pasta sauce, heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Once hot, add the onion and sauté for 5 minutes until starting to soften. Add the garlic, paprika and cinnamon, and cook for 3 minutes until the garlic is golden. Add the red wine, simmer for 1 minute to deglaze the pan, then add the remaining ingredients (except the roasted capsicums). Increase the heat to medium-high and bring to the boil. Once bubbling, reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 15 minutes until the sauce has reduced and thickened a little. Remove from the heat and transfer the sauce to a large bowl. Add the roasted capsicum halves and, using a stick blender (or similar), blitz the sauce until relatively smooth. Adjust seasoning to taste. Transfer the sauce to a large round baking dish or cast iron pan (approx. 25-27cm in diameter).
For the conchiglioni, bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil. Add the pasta shells and cook until only just al dente (the pasta will cook further in the oven so you’re better to slightly undercook it than overcook it). Drain the pasta shells, keeping a little cooking water in the pan to stop the shells from sticking together. If there are any broken pieces of pasta, scatter these over the pasta sauce. Place the roasted pumpkin in a bowl and mash with a fork. Add half of the chopped walnuts, lentils, oregano, lemon zest, lemon juice, garlic and black pepper. Crumble in 100g of the feta and mix together to combine. Adjust seasoning to taste. Fill each pasta shell well with the pumpkin mixture and nestle in the pasta sauce, openings facing upwards, so the pasta shells are completely submerged in the sauce with the filling visible. Crumble over the remaining 50g of feta and bake for 25-30 minutes, until the feta is golden and the sauce is bubbling. Remove from the oven and leave to rest for 5 minutes.
Serve the baked conchiglioni warm, sprinkled with the remaining chopped walnuts and extra oregano, alongside your favourite salad greens or fresh bread.