Christmas Eve for us, as for most families, evokes very specific food traditions. As long as Connor has been old enough to speak and realized what he really likes to eat, it’s been seafood stuffed shells. Since these are so creamy and luxurious, we only eat them once a year – Christmas Eve. They are easy to make, and I prepare them early in the day and bake when we get home from church. We serve with a simple Caesar salad with roasted red peppers, roasted broccoli with roasted red peppers (we got the red and green thing going) and a thick, rich chocolate dessert. Enjoy.
Connor’s Seafood Stuffed Shells
1 T oil
8 – 10 jumbo pasta shells
3 T butter
4 oz. mushrooms
1 1/2 T flour
1 C milk (skim is fine)
1 C half and half (full fat!)
“some” nutmeg (I always use nutmeg in pasta white sauce)
Freshly ground black pepper and salt to taste
2 egg yolks, slightly beaten
2 T Sherry
1/4 T Worcestershire sauce
6 oz. crab, drained
4 oz. cooked shrimp, diced
2 T diced roasted red pepper
Grated Parmesan
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Add oil to water and bring to boil. Add shells and cook until tender but quite firm. Remove from water. Invert on to dry cloth towel. Cover to prevent drying.
Melt butter in medium saucepan. Add mushroom and saute 5 minutes. Remove mushrooms and set aside. Stir flour into butter. Cook over low heat until bubbly, stirring constantly. Continue to stir, blend milk, half and half, salt and pepper, and nutmeg into flour mixture and cook until mixture thickens about 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Blend 1/2 cup hot sauce into beaten eggs yolks. Gradually add eggs yolk mixture to remaining sauce. Stir in Sherry and Worcestershire sauce. In a medium bowl, mix together crab, shrimp, mushroom, roasted red pepper, and 3/4 cups sauce. Shell shells with seafood mixture.
Pour enough sauce to cover bottom of a 11” x 7” baking dish. Arrange shells on sauce. Spoon seafood stuffed evenly among shells. Spoon remaining sauce over shells. Sprinkle with Parmesan and paprika (for color). Shells can be made to this point and refrigerated for a few hours.
Bake in 350 degree oven for 20-25 minutes. Serve immediately.
1 T oil
8 – 10 jumbo pasta shells
3 T butter
4 oz. mushrooms
1 1/2 T flour
1 C milk (skim is fine)
1 C half and half (full fat!)
“some” nutmeg (I always use nutmeg in pasta white sauce)
Freshly ground black pepper and salt to taste
2 egg yolks, slightly beaten
2 T Sherry
1/4 T Worcestershire sauce
6 oz. crab, drained
4 oz. cooked shrimp, diced
2 T diced roasted red pepper
Grated Parmesan
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Add oil to water and bring to boil. Add shells and cook until tender but quite firm. Remove from water. Invert on to dry cloth towel. Cover to prevent drying.
Melt butter in medium saucepan. Add mushroom and saute 5 minutes. Remove mushrooms and set aside. Stir flour into butter. Cook over low heat until bubbly, stirring constantly. Continue to stir, blend milk, half and half, salt and pepper, and nutmeg into flour mixture and cook until mixture thickens about 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Blend 1/2 cup hot sauce into beaten eggs yolks. Gradually add eggs yolk mixture to remaining sauce. Stir in Sherry and Worcestershire sauce. In a medium bowl, mix together crab, shrimp, mushroom, roasted red pepper, and 3/4 cups sauce. Shell shells with seafood mixture.
Pour enough sauce to cover bottom of a 11” x 7” baking dish. Arrange shells on sauce. Spoon seafood stuffed evenly among shells. Spoon remaining sauce over shells. Sprinkle with Parmesan and paprika (for color). Shells can be made to this point and refrigerated for a few hours.
Bake in 350 degree oven for 20-25 minutes. Serve immediately.
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