The last time I made this Taco Stuffed Shells was back in 2001 when my oldest and youngest sons had come over here to the UK to visit me. They gobbled it up. It uses large pasta shells instead of the traditional Taco Shells.
As a family we had always been very keen on Mexican flavours. This was one of my boys favourite meals. It came from my Big Blue Binder, which was a binder filled with recipes which I had collected through the years. It is filled with recipes collected from family, friends, newspapers and magazines and has been travelling around with me wherever I go.
It is stuffed to overflowing now as it is filled with my collections of a good 45 years or more.
And I still collect . . . what can I say. I am a foodie through and through!
For this recipe you create a delicious spicy meat sauce, with taco seasoning, enchilada sauce, salsa, onion, jalapeno peppers and lean ground beef . . .
I stir in a bit of sour cream and some cheese as well which gives it a touch of creaminess. I stuff this mixture into cooked large pasta shells. I love the large pasta shells. They are great stuffed and baked with just about everything!
Some of the sauce went into the bottom of the baking dish . . . then I placed the stuffed shells on top . . .
Spooning the remainder of the sauce over top of the stuffed shells and scattering grated cheese over it all.
Finally I add a layer of crushed tortilla chips to add a bit of crunch. You have to add a bit of crunch when you are talking tacos!
You cover it and bake it in the oven for about 20 minutes, then uncover it and bake it for a while longer, just until everything is bubbling away and the cheese has melted.
These are fabulous served with your favourite taco toppings!
Whatever you enjoy on a taco, you can enjoy on top of these! Today it was sour cream, shredded lettuce, chopped spring onions, grated cheese (I know more cheese!), chopped tomatoes and sliced black olives!
These are really delicious. You could serve a salad on the side, but because of the salad like toppings we didn't bother. Children really love these, but then again, so do adults!
Taco Stuffed Shells
Yield: 4
All the flavours of your favourite tacos, stuffed into pasta shells and baked. Spicy, cheesy, meaty. What more could you ask for?
Ingredients:
- 170g jumbo pasta shells
- 340g lean ground beef (12 ounces)
- 1 small onion, peeled and minced
- 140g taco sauce (5 ounces)
- 115g salsa (1/2 cup)
- 1/2 envelope of taco seasoning mix
- 3 TBS sour cream
- 1 green jalapeno chili, trimmed, deseeded and minced
- 200g shredded jack or cheddar cheese blend (2 cups)
- 1 small bag of tortilla chips crushed
- Your favourite Taco toppings to serve
Instructions:
- Cook your pasta shells according to the package directions in lightly salted boiling water. Drain well, rinse with cold water and drain again.
- Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4.
- While they are cooking add the ground beef to a skillet along with the onion and green chili. Dry scramble until cooked through and starting to brown. Remove from the heat.
- Whisk the taco seasoning, enchilada sauce and salsa together in a bowl. Stir 3/4 cup of this mixture into the ground beef, along with half the cheese.
- Butter an 8 by 12 inch baking dish. Spread half of the enchilada sauce/salsa mixture into the bottom of the dish. Stuff the shells with the meat mixture and place them into the baking dish. Pour the remaining enchilada sauce mixture over top. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Sprinkle the crushed tortilla chips over all.
- Cover with foil and bake for 15 minutes. Uncover and bake for a further 10 to 15 minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbly.
- Serve hot with your favourite taco toppings.
I had to laugh at Todd. When he was done all that was sitting on his plate was the empty pasta shells. He said they were too chew. I beg to differ . . . but hey ho. We each have our likes and dislikes. His just happens to be pasta.
The recipe I am sharing with you today for Greek Chicken with Tomatoes & Feta is one which was very popular with my boss and her friends when I was working at the Manor. I cooked it quite often for her and the ladies for luncheons and sometimes for her and her husband in the evenings.
The chicken is impeccably cooked after being marinated for several hours in a tasty herb, lemon and white wine marinade, which not only makes it really tender, but the flavours are wow!
The original recipe came from this cookbook, Fresh Every Day by Sara Foster. This was one of my boss's favourite sources for recipes she wanted me to cook for them. I was so impressed with it actually that I ended up buying a copy for myself.
The recipes are pretty basic actually, making great use of fresh seasonal produce and herbs. There are a few exotic ones, but most are very doable and quite simple.
The sauce for this chicken is created using the marinade as well as fresh tomatoes and onions. I used a mix of tomatoes from my box of heirloom tomatoes, but the recipe actually calls for plum tomatoes, which are excellent for sauces.
Added to that are onions, minced garlic and some kalamata olives . . . very Greek . . . oregano, basil . . .
Once the chicken has browned, these things get reduced along with the reserved marinade down into a lush and flavour filled sauce.
It is served sprinkled with crumbled feta cheese . . . and a garnish of fresh basil and oregano leaves . . .
So you get beautifully cooked, tender and moist flavourful chicken breasts . . . .
Adorned with a beautiful lush and rich sauce . . .
And crowned with salty crumbled feta cheese . . . it migh tlook like a bit of a hot mess . . .
But I can promise you that it is anything but a hot mess . . . it is perfection . . .
Savoury, tangy, sweet, salty, herby perfection. I have small batched it to feed two people, but it can easily be doubled or even tripled, having done so many times myself.
Greek Chicken with Tomatoes & Feta
Yield: 2
I small batched this fabulous chicken recipe from the cookbook "Fresh Every Day" by Sara Foster. The flavours are beautifully fresh!
Ingredients:
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1 TBS Lemon juice
- 1 tsp fresh lemon zest
- 120ml white wine (1/2 cup)
- 1 TBS chopped fresh oregano, plus more to garnish
- sal and black pepper to taste
- 1 TBS olive oil
- 1/2 TBS butter
- 1/2 small onion, peeled and diced
- 2 plum tomatoes, cored and chopped
- 1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
- 10 Kalamata olives, pitted and halved
- 3 fresh basil leaves, rolled and juilienned, plus more to garnish
- 1 ounce of Feta cheese, crumbled
Instructions:
- Pat the chicken dry and put into a dish with a cover. Add the lemon juice, lemon zest, wine, oregano, and salt and pepper to taste, rubbing it all into the chicken. Cover and place in the refrigerator to marinate for several hours. Bring to room temperature before cooking. (You can leave it as long as overnight.)
- Heat the olive oil and butter in a large skillet. Remove the chicken from the marinade, reserving the marinade. Cook the chicken in the hot fat, turning it only once, for 4 to 5 minutes per side, until golden brown. Remove to a plate, loosely cover with foil and keep warm.
- Add the onions and tomatoes to the skillet and cook over medium heat, stirring often, for 2 to 3 minutes, until the onion has softened and the tomatoes have released some of their juices. Add the garlic and cook for a minute, stirring. Add the reserved marinade and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until reduced by half. Taste and season as required.
- Return the chicken to the pan. Add the olives and basil. Simmer on low for a further 6 to 8 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and the juices run clear.
- Transfer the chicken to heated serving plates. Spoon some sauce over each serving. Crumble the feta over top and garnish with herbs. Serve immediately.
When I served this at the Manor, she liked to have couscous with it. We enjoyed it the other day simply with some steamed rice. I did not serve a vegetable on the side. This was quite simply more than enough!
I was recently asked if I would like to try a new a cleaning product. Squeeky Cleaners are an eco-friendly, 100% natural and organic cleaning brand that kills 99.9% of all viruses and germs.
I was very surprised to learn that although we purpote to be cleaner and healthier than our ancestors might have been, we are living in incredibly more and more toxic environments. Our cleaning products are filled with chemicals and toxins.
We may see our indoor air as being cleaner and less polluted than the outside air but surprisingly, according to the British Lung Foundation, types of indoor air pollution include particulate matter (PM) – microscopic particles of dust and dirt in the air, gases – carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide.
We think our homes are sparkling clean, but air poor quality can affect asthma, COPD and allergies. Indoor air pollution can be caused by many things. These include: cooking, poor ventilation, damp, toiletries and chemicals in cleaning products.
Harsh toxic chemicals found in many household cleaners affect skin, airways, lungs and eyes, with long term research suggesting that certain chemicals cause cancer and can even change our DNA over a period of time.
Squeeky cleaners have created and range of 100% natural, organic, eco-friendly, pet safe and vegan friendly cleaning products which are great for the home and planet. Their products can bring comfort to householders who worry that modern day living cannot be clean and natural without the use of harsh chemicals. All of their products are plant based and made with essential oils. They are safe, yet powerful and kill over 99.9% of all germs and viruses.
Squeeky cleaners have a range of products to make all areas of the home and garden super clean. One of their most popular products is the Organic Limescale Remover Life Bottle Bundle which brings a super clean shine to bathrooms and kitchens, even to the most toughest stains. The bundle includes a reusable UK aluminium life bottle and refils for just £14.99. For more information visit Squeekyshop.co.uk
I decided to try this out on the most minging thing in our home, the shower head for our shower. I am forever having to clean black mold and lime scale from it. I know it doesn't look too bad before but there was quite a bit of lime scale on it and some black mold around the screw on part.
This cleaner had a very pleasant smell that was not obnoxious in the least. And as you can see it did an excellent job of cleaning the shower head of its lime scale and is mold. I did have to apply a bit of effort, but you would expect to when it comes to lime scale that stuff is like tartar on the teeth!
My cleaner was here this morning and she used it in the kitchen and she really liked the smell as well, and felt it had done a great job where she used it.
With a re-usable bottle, (which is also 100% recyclable) 100% Organic and pet friendly, Vegan, cruelty free and having been made in the UK (which is important to me), this ticks all my boxes!
One thing I really love about the summer months is the availability of fresh garden tomatoes. Each year I usually take advantage of their abundance and bake us a Country Tomato Pie.
I cannot tell a lie, its fabulously tasty, but it is a bit of work with making and rolling out the pastry, etc. A most delicious solution to this is this Rustic Tomato Pie I am sharing with you today.
In fact I think this Rustic version is even more delicious!!
We have not grown our own tomatoes this year. The pandemic means we were not able to get out and about to get seedlings, etc. Instead I have been buying a crate of fresh heirloom tomatoes from The Tomato Stall every couple of weeks.
And let me tell you, they have been worth every penny. You have never tasted such delicious tomatoes apart from growing your own. Grown on the Isle of Wight, they are just beautiful and so flavour filled! (And no they have not paid me or given me free tomatoes to say that. I have bought my own tomatoes.)
They are really fabulous tomatoes, and so pretty.
Far too pretty to hide underneath something like the cheese filling in my regular tomato pie recipe.
May I present my Rustic Tomato Tart, a flavour filled riff on my Country Tomato Pie.
It lacks nothing that is present in the original recipe. There are plenty of thick and juicy ripe tomatoes. Fresh herbs, basil and thyme . . .
Two tasty cheeses . . . gruyere (which is a swiss cheese) and Parmesan . . . and rich mayonnaise . . .
The cheeses get mixed with the mayonnaise and fresh herbs and spread on a base of all-butter puff pastry, and then topped with a layer of rich caramelised onions . . .
I treat the tomatoes with salt and sugar while I am caramelising the onions, which draws out some of the moisture and helps to enhance the flavours of these delicious beauties.
These get layered on top of the caramelised onions . . . I like to scatter plenty of coarse black pepper on top of the tomatoes.
You won't need salt as they've already been salt treated.
I then dolloped more of the mayo mixture here and there on top of the tomatoes. Not a lot, just a bit here and there . . .
The edges of the tart are brushed with a mix of egg yolk and cream . . . it helps to gild the edges when baking . . . so pretty . . .
The tart then gets baked in a fairly hot oven . . . .
Just long enough to get that puff pastry crisp and golden brown . . .
Long enough to turn that mayo, herb and cheese filling into something incredibly lush and unctuously delicious . . .
The tomatoes just barely cooked . . . but still retaining quite a lot of their beautiful textures and flavours . . .
Just look at their beautiful jewel-like colours . . . gold and ruby and russet . . . stunning.
I tore up a few more basil leaves to garnish the finished tart. Perfection. This Rustic Tomato Pie was pure and utter perfection.
Rustic Tomato Pie
Yield: 6
This delicious tomato pie is a lot easier to make than the regular one, but every bit as delicious if not more so!
Ingredients:
- 5 to 6 ripe tomatoes, cut into 1/2 inch thick slices
- 1 tsp granulated sugar
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 TBS butter
- 1 medium onion, peeled, halved and cut julienne
- 220g mayonnaise (1 cup)
- 60g grated Gruyere cheese (1/2 cup)
- 90g grated Parmesan cheese (1/2 cup)
- 2 1/2 TBS chopped fresh basil, plus extra to garnish
- 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves, chopped
- coarse black pepper
- 1 sheet of all butter puff pastry
- 1 large free range egg yolk
- 1 TBS milk or light cream
Instructions:
- Slice your tomatoes. Sprinkle them with the seasalt and sugar and then sit them in a colander set over a bowl to drain.
- While they are draining, melt the butter in a skillet. Add your sliced onion and cook them slowly over medium low heat, stirring occasionally for 25 to 30 minutes until lightly caramelised. Remove from the heat.
- Stir the mayonnaise, both cheeses and the chopped herbs together.
- Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 5. Line a large baking sheet with some baking paper.
- Unroll the puff pastry and place onto the baking sheet. Score a rim 1/2 inch around the outsides of the sheet of pastry. Prick all over the centre using a fork. Spread with 3/4 of the mayonnaise mixture, reserving the remainder to dot the top of the tart.
- Sprinkle the caramelised onions over the mayonnaise mixture on the tart base.
- Pat the tomato slices dry and arrange them over the top of the caramelise onions in a decorative manner. Season with some coarse black pepepr.
- Dollop the remainder of the mayonnaise mixture here and there on top of the tomatoes.
- Whisk together the egg yolk and cream/milk. Brush this mixture on the border around the tart edge.
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until crisp and golden, and the cheese filling has melted.
- Garnish with some fresh basil and serve, cut into squares.
I doubt I will ever bake my regular tomato pie again. This was so easy to make and incredibly delicious once done . . . I mean puff pastry . . . I adore puff pastry. I have created a new favourite!
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com
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