Cajun French: bourrer (boor-ā) – stuff
“Have you tried pop up shrimp?” We were asked this question and had no idea what Letti was talking about. What she meant was dried shrimp and no we had never used them. We were familiar with the shrimp and knew many Cajuns used them in gumbos; yet we had not tried them. Never ones to let something go; we purchased a package of dried Louisiana shrimp and put it in the pantry. Last night that bag of shrimp was staring at us and so it was time to give them a try. They are different and not like any shrimp we have used before. In researching we found the dried shrimp are used in oriental cooking especially in soups and stews. We decided to go Italian with them and stuff pasta shells. The taste is definitely different and we will probably give them another try in some other cuisine. The saga continues….
Mais C’est Bon!
Enjoy!!
Ingredients:
- 2-3 Tbl olive oil
- ½ cup onion, finely chopped
- ¼ cup yellow bell pepper, finely chopped
- ¼ cup green bell pepper, finely chopped
- ½ cup mushrooms, finely chopped
- ½ cup beet greens, finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, smashed
- ¼ cup bread crumbs
- 1.25 oz dried shrimp
- ¾ cup warm water
- 12 pasta shells, jumbo
- 24 oz Tomato Sauce (your choice)
- 2 tsp Splenda
Place dried shrimp in bowl
Pour warm water over shrimp and let soak
Heat 2 Tbl olive oil to medium heat in cast iron skillet
Sauté onion, peppers, mushrooms, beet greens, and garlic until soft and cooked down
Remove from skillet and set aside
In same skillet, pour tomato sauce
Sprinkle 2 tsp Splenda over tomato sauce
Cook sauce down until thick over medium heat
Cook shells according to package direction
Drain and separate shells
Place on baking sheet
Heat 1 tsp olive oil in small cast iron skillet
Sauté shrimp for about 3 minutes
Combine: vegetables, shrimp, bread crumbs, and 6 Tbl tomato sauce
Stuff shells with mixture
Place stuffed shells in greased oven pan
Spread remaining sauce over shells
Heat shells at 350 until warm, approximately 20 minutes
So you researched it, found that it is used in Japanese cuisine and then decided to go Italian? I guess that makes sense. 🙂 Your recipe does look quite good and certainly quite ingenious! How can you go wrong with stuffed pasta shells?
Thanks MJ. We are always thinking outside and pushing the envelope. Never ones to get stagnant, we experiment with varying results. This recipe was truly an experiment and we liked the results.