Stuffed Shells Are The Secret To Elevating Those Viral Fried Pasta Chips
You've probably heard by now that fried pasta is the new potato chip. It's simply cooked pasta shapes that are then tossed in bread crumbs and quickly fried, making them a heartier snack than a typical chip. Plus, you don't even need to pair them with a dip (though heating up some marinara sauce certainly wouldn't hurt). While people have explored plenty of pasta shapes, such as fried ravioli, one chef just took fried pasta to new heights by frying up some stuffed shells.
Chef Danilo Cortellini took to TikTok to show off his new twist on the viral pasta chip, which consists of a bechamel and cheese-stuffed shell that is dredged, breaded, and fried to perfection. While the shells aren't necessarily a low-calorie snack, they're generally pretty easy to make, though you'll need to follow a few different steps — and clean a few pots and dishes — before enjoying this treat.
How to make fried stuffed shells
The one thing to absolutely not skip is cooking the pasta. You simply will not be able to digest uncooked pasta well, and frying it will not help cook it. So boil some water, then let those stuffed shells cook to al dente. Meanwhile, chef Danilo Cortellini calls for making a bechamel sauce base (just a seasoned mixture of butter, flour, and milk), then mixing it with Grana Padano cheese before piping it into the shell.
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To coat the shells, you'll want to first dredge them in flour, then dip them in egg wash, and coat them in bread crumbs. Cortellini repeats this process twice, which is known as double breading, to make sure the shell is thoroughly coated and none of the stuffing will leak while it fries. From there, fry the shells in hot oil until golden brown, then let them cool for a few minutes before digging into that ooey, gooey center.
Other variations of fried stuffed shells
Chef Danilo Cortellini uses a cheesy béchamel sauce for his stuffed shell filling, which creates a center that literally pours out when you break it apart. However, you don't have to stick to Cortellini's recipe; you can stuff the shell with anything.
Instead of creating additional work by preparing a sauce to add to the shells, try keeping it simple and just cutting up some string cheese sticks to fit comfortably inside each shell. Then, you can coat the shell in breading as usual and still create a cheesy, fall-apart center without the hassle of preparing a whole sauce.
Other flavor combinations would work in the center of a stuffed shell, too — and it doesn't even have to be something Italian. Try mixing some shredded chicken with buffalo sauce and cream cheese to create a cheesy buffalo chicken center. Then, let the mixture refrigerate to harden a bit, stuff it to fill the shell, and you'll have deep fried buffalo chicken shells in no time. The vegetarian route would work, too; add spinach, artichokes, and cream cheese together to make spinach and artichoke stuffed shells. Or you could make like one content creator on TikTok who took inspiration from Taco Tuesday celebrations and stuffed their shells with cheese, chile-spiced ground beef, and tomatoes.