Chicken and Chard stuffed pasta shells

· by · in Entree, Freezer Meal, Italian. ·

It’s lean times as I finish out July, so I was looking for ways to stretch what I had. I had to use the last grocery money to buy chicken for this, but I luckily already had some shells sitting around, as well as cheese, chard and pesto. This is inspired by various freezer-meal recipes I found online, but this one is original. Freeze these unbaked and pull them out later to bake on demand. Bonus: They come in the colors of the Italian flag! This is the first in my round of freezer meal recipes, which I’ve never really done before, but am definitely going to start doing due to economies of scale.

Yield

16 stuffed shells

Ingredients

  • 12 oz shredded chicken (half of a large breast), cooked — I baked it until a meat thermometer said done–sorry, don’t know how long it was. Probably half an hour at 375°F. You can shred with two forks.
  • 4 oz cheese (about a cup) — I used white cheddar, mozzarella and parmesan.
  • 3 leaves swiss chard, roughly chopped
  • Stems of above leaves, finely chopped
  • 1 small jar pesto — I used fennel frond pesto
  • 1 tsp each oregano, parsley, thyme
  • 16 shells, cooked, drained, cooled

Directions

  1. Combine the greens, shredded chicken, cheese and spices in a bowl and mix to combine.
  2. One shell at a time, spread it gently (don’t rip it), spread about ½ tsp pesto on the inside. It won’t be perfectly distributed but that’s fine.
  3. Stuff shell until full with the mixture. It’s okay if it doesn’t close, they should hold up just fine. If any shells do rip, you can pin them shut with toothpicks.
  4. Place finished shells on a cookie tray lined with parchment paper (don’t let them touch) and freeze.
  5. When you want to eat, pull a few out and place either on a cookie tray or in a baking dish (either way, oil it so they won’t stick). Spread more cheese on top. Add tomato sauce if you like. Bake until the cheese is bubbly, maybe 15 minutes at 350°F. Serve with a side salad, crusty bread or maybe a bowl of minestrone.

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