CREAMY BEEF & SHELLS

What is “beef and shells”?

It refers to this dish made with short pasta and seasoned ground beef in a sauce that is both tomato-based and dairy-based.

In this recipe, we are also adding in heavy cream and sour cream aside from the cheddar cheese while others add in cheese only. This makes this dish creamier overall.

Do you need to discard beef grease?

The answer is both yes and no. You will be throwing away flavor along with the grease when you discard it. So, there are two answers to this question.

Yes, if you used the kind that has too much fat. Since too much grease is not desirable so you need to discard it. Actually in this case, I like to leave about 1-2 tablespoons in the pan.

And no, if you used extra lean meat. Then there is not much grease that will develop, so you can keep that tiny amount and not discard it.

Hence, I strongly recommend that you use extra lean meat for this one as it would be more flavorful. And since this dish has sauce, do not worry about it getting too dry.

Ingredients:

8 ounces medium pasta shells
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound ground beef
1 small sweet onion (diced)
5 cloves garlic (minced)
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup beef stock
1 (15oz can) marinara sauce
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup sour cream
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese (freshly grated)

PREPARATION:

Cook pasta according to package instructions in a large pot of boiling salted water and drain well.
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add ground beef and cook until browned, about 3-5 minutes, breaking it with a wooden spoon. Drain excess fat and set aside.

To the same skillet, add diced onion, and cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add garlic, and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
Whisk in flour until lightly browned, for about 1 minute.

Gradually whisk in beef stock and stir to combine. Add marinara sauce and stir in Italian seasoning, dried parsley, oregano, and paprika.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until reduced and slightly thickened, about 6-8 minutes.

Stir in cooked pasta, and add back beef.

Next, stir in heavy cream until heated through, about 1-2 minutes. Taste and adjust for salt and pepper.

After that, stir in the sour cream.
Next, fold in the cheddar cheese until melted, about 1-2 minutes.

Serve immediately, garnished with parsley if desired.

Enjoy !

CREAMY BEEF & SHELLS

Recipe by Alexandra

0.0 from 0 votes

Course: All Word Recipes

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

30

minutes

Cooking time

40

minutes

Calories

300

kcal

Total time

0

minutes

Cook Mode

Keep the screen of your device on

Ingredients

• 8 ounces 8 medium pasta shells

• 1 tablespoon 1 olive oil

• 1 pound 1 ground beef

• 1 small 1 sweet onion (diced)

• 5 cloves 5 garlic (minced)

• 1 teaspoon 1 Italian seasoning

• 1 teaspoon 1 dried parsley

• 1/2 teaspoon 1/2 dried oregano

• 1/2 teaspoon 1/2 smoked paprika

• 2 tablespoons 2 all-purpose flour

• 1 cup 1 beef stock

• 1 can 1 ) marinara sauce

• 3/4 cup 3/4 heavy cream

• 1/4 cup 1/4 sour cream

• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper (to taste)

• 1 1/2 cups 1 1/2 cheddar cheese (freshly grated)

Directions

• Cook pasta according to package instructions in a large pot of boiling salted water and drain well.
• Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add ground beef and cook until browned, about 3-5 minutes, breaking it with a wooden spoon. Drain excess fat and set aside.
• To the same skillet, add diced onion, and cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add garlic, and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
• Whisk in flour until lightly browned, for about 1 minute.
• Gradually whisk in beef stock and stir to combine. Add marinara sauce and stir in Italian seasoning, dried parsley, oregano, and paprika.
• Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until reduced and slightly thickened, about 6-8 minutes.
• Stir in cooked pasta, and add back beef.
• Next, stir in heavy cream until heated through, about 1-2 minutes. Taste and adjust for salt and pepper.
• After that, stir in the sour cream.
• Next, fold in the cheddar cheese until melted, about 1-2 minutes.
• Serve immediately, garnished with parsley if desired.
• Enjoy !

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