Baked Conchiglioni with Pumpkin & Gorgonzola cheese
Stuffed Conchiglioni with pumpkin, gorgonzola and cavolo nero
Way before I even knew what mac & cheese was, I knew pasta al forno, the Italian sibling. You can simply translate it to baked pasta but I don’t feel it gives this dish the respect it deserves. There are so many regional varieties and combinations to create with it that possibilities become endless.
On this occasion, I choose a pasta shape that seemed to prove very popular in the past few years, the extra large Conchiglioni.. Their large cavity is perfect for stuffing with delicious ingredients and I believe it is when baked that this pasta gives its absolute best.
The autumnal combination of pumpkin, gorgonzola, and seasonal greens seamed just perfect to celebrate this beautiful pasta and Italian tradition.
Serves: 4 // Preparation Time: 60 minutes
Ingredients
350 g of Large Conchiglioni
1 small pumpkin (about 700g)
250 g of cavolo nero (or curly kale)
200 g of gorgonzola cheese
50 g of grated Grana Padano cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
For the cheesy béchamel
500 ml of milk
40 g of butter
40 g of plain flour
150 g of Grated Grana Padano
Salt, pepper, and nutmeg to taste
Preparation
To prepare the béchamel, melt the butter in a casserole and add the flour to it. Cook for a couple of minutes on medium heat until the roux (mix of butter and flour) is well golden. Now pour in the milk, stirring with a whisk, and bring to boiling point while mixing every now and then. Season with salt and pepper and a touch of nutmeg. The béchamel should be now ready, creamy, and with no lumps. Remove from the heat and stir in the grated cheese until it melts. Set aside and keep warm if using straight away.
To make the pumpkin pure, cut it into chuncks and follow this hack to speed up the puree preparation. Place the pumpkin in a microwave-safe dish and cover with film. Cook at maximum power for about 12 minutes in sessions of 3 minutes each as you don’t want the tray and the oven to overheat. When soft, remove the pumpkin from the tray and pulse it into a food processor until smooth. Season with salt, pepper, a little grated cheese and set aside to cool.
You can alternatively cook the pumpkin chunks as tradition wants in the oven at 160 with a drizzle of oil, a few leaves of thyme, and a couple of crushed garlic cloves. Use parchment on your baking tray and cover with foil for quicker cooking. This method will take about 20 minutes to get the pumpkin soft.
If you have time, to get the pumpkin pure firm, dense, and remove the water excess, let it drain in a fine sieve for a few hours, then place it into a pastry bag for quicker stuffing.
Rinse the cavolo nero and discard the woody stalks. Cook in salted boiling water for about 4 minutes and let it cool down. Chop roughly.
Drop the Conchiglioni in a large pot of salted boiling water and cook until ‘al dente’ for about 12/14 minutes following the packet instructions. Mix every now and then. Drain the pasta and spread it onto a large tray. Drizzle with a little oil and let it cool.
Now proceed to stuff the conchigioni and prepare the tray.
Spread a thick layer of béchamel in an ovenproof dish and top with the blanched cavolo nero. Now stuff each conchiglioni with a dollop of pumpkin puree and a cube/knob of gorgonzola cheese making sure it doesn’t overflow too much.
Lay the stuffed Conchiglioni on top of the cavolo nero and drizzle with the remaining béchamel and top with a sprinkle grated Grana Padano.
Bake at 180 for about 20 minutes or until golden and crispy.
Serve immediately.