Stuffed Conchiglioni with Mushrooms, Ham, and Béchamel

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PRESENTATION

Stuffed conchiglioni with mushrooms, ham, and béchamel make for a truly enticing first course that we might call the classic festive dish, which can be prepared the night before and baked just a few minutes before serving. The ridged conchiglioni, because of their unique hollow shape, are a classic pasta shape to fill with a variety of stuffings, like ricotta and ground meat! In this recipe, however, we chose mushrooms, zucchini, cooked ham, béchamel, and grated cheese: once the conchiglioni are arranged in the baking dish, they are gratinated for a few minutes until a golden, crispy crust forms. Try many delicious variants of gratin pasta with béchamel, such as the one with fennel!

INGREDIENTS

Shell pasta 3 cups (300 g)
Garlic 2 cloves
Extra virgin olive oil ½ glass
Champignon mushrooms 7 cups (500 g)
Prosciutto cotto 4.4 oz (125 g) - (in one slice to be diced)
Zucchini 2
Grana Padano PDO cheese 1 ¼ cup (100 g) - to grate
Parsley 2 spoonfuls - to chop
Fine salt to taste
Pecorino cheese 1.75 oz (50 g) - to be grated
For the béchamel (500 g)
Butter 3 ½ tbsp (50 g)
Type 00 flour 0.4 cup (50 g)
Fine salt 1 pinch
Whole milk 2.1 cups (500 g) - fresh
Nutmeg to taste - to grate
Preparation

How to prepare Stuffed Conchiglioni with Mushrooms, Ham, and Béchamel

First, clean the mushrooms and chop them (into 1/3 inch cubes) using a knife 1, do the same with the zucchini 2. In a large pan, finely chop the garlic cloves and sauté them without burning in 8 tablespoons of oil, add the cleaned and chopped mushrooms, and cook them on high heat 3

At the end of cooking, add the chopped parsley and salt 4. Meanwhile, prepare the béchamel according to the doses indicated in this recipe. In another pan, sauté the ham cubes with the chopped zucchini and two tablespoons of oil until the zucchini are tender 5. In a blender, put the mushrooms (except 3-4 tablespoons to set aside), zucchini, ham, half the béchamel, 1/2 cup of grated Grana Padano, and 1/2 cup of grated Pecorino; blend at the lowest speed for just a few seconds,

to obtain a mixture where pieces of mushrooms or zucchini remain visible but not too large (like a ragù) 7. Meanwhile, cook the conchiglioni 8, drain them when they are very al dente and run them under cold water to stop the cooking, then drizzle them with a little oil and mix them to prevent sticking. Fill the conchiglioni with the mixture, using a spoon 9,

and place them close together in a greased baking dish 10; fill the entire baking dish with the stuffed conchiglioni, then add the reserved mushrooms to the remaining béchamel (if it has become too thick, add a few tablespoons of milk to make it more liquid) and cover the conchiglioni with the béchamel cream and mushrooms obtained 11, then sprinkle with the remaining grated Grana Padano and place in the oven under the grill for a few minutes, just enough time to achieve a nice golden crust (about 10 minutes). Serve the stuffed conchiglioni immediately 12.

Tip

If you like, you could prepare the dish of stuffed conchiglioni the night before, and store it in the refrigerator covered with plastic wrap. Take it out of the refrigerator half an hour before baking to bring it back to room temperature. To prepare the stuffed conchiglioni, instead of champignons, you can choose to use other types of mushrooms to your liking, even the more prized porcini.

For the translation of some texts, artificial intelligence tools may have been used.