This verdant pasta has two of my favorite things—greens and cheese—in abundance. Stuffed shells classically employ the oversized sort, each piece of pasta as big as a baby’s fist. But I love riffing on this technique with medium shells too. This swap means, instead of making a more involved filling with multiple ingredients—and stuffing each one by hand—you can simply sprinkle the open-armed noodles with a pungent cheese like feta and call it a day.
The green sauce draws inspiration from a few places, including Joshua McFadden’s kale sauce from Six Seasons, Chris Morocco’s vividly hued pesto, and Priya Krishna’s Spinach and Feta Cooked Like Saag Paneer, which I’ve made more times than I can count. You can call in prewashed, pre-chopped kale (8–10 oz.) if you’re in a rush. Use whatever nut is around: pistachios or walnuts, toasted or untoasted, salted or unsalted. But do seek out feta by the block and break it up yourself; the pre-crumbled stuff tends to be chalky and bland.
Find more green-hued recipes here: Gorgeous Green Shrimp; Peruvian-Style Tofu With Creamy Cilantro Sauce; and Kale Pesto With Whole Wheat Pasta.
