This meal mixes Italian stuffed shells with the spices and aromas of Cochinita Pibil, a Mexican roast pork dish. The stuffed shells are given a pleasantly unexpected Latin-American character by the addition of spiced pork, cilantro, and queso fresco.
| Prep Time: | 30 mins |
| Cook Time: | 1 hr 45 mins |
| Total Time: | 2 hrs 15 mins |
| Servings: | 8 |
| Yield: | 8 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 (12 ounce) box Barilla® Jumbo Shells
- 1 (24 ounce) jar Barilla® Traditional Sauce
- 2 packets sazon seasoning with coriander and achiote
- 2 ½ pounds boneless pork shoulder, cut into 1-inch cubes
- ⅓ cup fresh orange juice
- ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
- ¼ cup fresh lime juice
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 cups chicken stock, or as needed
- ½ cup chopped cilantro leaves
- 10 ounces crumbled queso fresco cheese, divided
Instructions
- Sprinkle sazon seasoning over pork cubes and toss to coat evenly. Transfer to a large zip-top plastic bag. Mix orange juice, lemon juice, lime juice, cumin, paprika, chili powder, coriander, salt, and pepper together in a mixing bowl. Pour into plastic bag with pork; gently squeeze to evenly distribute marinade. Seal bag and place on a plate. Refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.
- Remove pork from marinade; reserve marinade. Heat oil in large skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Cook and stir pork until brown on all sides, 3 to 5 minutes. Add reserved marinade and enough chicken stock to barely cover the pork. Bring to a boil over high heat; cover, reduce heat to low and simmer 30 minutes. Remove lid and continue to simmer until meat is falling-apart tender, about 45 minutes.
- Transfer pork with a slotted spoon to a bowl; reserve 1/3 cup of cooking liquid. Cool pork slightly; shred pork with two forks. Mix in reserved cooking liquid, cilantro, and 7 ounces of crumbled queso fresco cheese.
- Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook pasta shells in the boiling water, stirring occasionally until tender yet firm to the bite, about 13 minutes. Drain.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
- Cover the bottom of a 9×13-inch baking dish with 2 cups of pasta sauce. Stuff shells with a spoonful of pork mixture and arrange in baking dish. Pour remaining pasta sauce evenly over stuffed shells and sprinkle with remaining crumbled queso fresco.
- Cover with aluminum foil and bake in preheated oven until hot and bubbly, about 30 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.
- To make your own sazon seasoning, mix 1/2 teaspoon each of ground coriander, ground cumin, ground annatto seeds (or turmeric), garlic powder, and kosher salt, plus 1/3 teaspoon oregano, and 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 477 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 46 g |
| Cholesterol | 67 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 4 g |
| Protein | 26 g |
| Saturated Fat | 7 g |
| Sodium | 751 mg |
| Sugars | 1 g |
| Fat | 21 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
The pork was delicious, as was the sauce it was cooked in. However the Barilla Traditional sauce that was with it totally overpowered the the flavors. Both Hubby and I agreed this would be much better with a Mexican or BBQ type sauce.
These little jewels were tasty! The recipe has lots of steps, so be sure to prep everything in advance. I let the shells go 2 minutes under the recommended time, and then drained and let cool while the pork was going, so they would be easy to handle. This pork recipe on its own is absolutely stellar, and I almost made soup out of the remaining pan sauce–sooo delicious! I used smoked paprika, and the little bit of smoky flavor was spot on. This is a beautiful presentation and totally guest-worthy, since the shells are a tidy way to serve pasta!
These are really tasty! I made 1/2 a recipe to feed our family of 4, and still have enough left over for my lunch tomorrow. I cheated just a bit . . . as I decided at about 1:30 p.m. that I was going to make this for dinner tonight. I only marinated the pork for about 2 hours, then I sauteed it in my InstantPot for 3-5 minutes, then added the marinade & chicken broth and cooked it in my InstantPot on manual setting for 45 minutes. Worked great! The only thing I would change is to only boil the shells for about 8 minutes. The box says 9 minutes, but even at 9 minutes, mine were breaking slightly. They will continue to cook while in the oven – so no worries. Great recipe though, and one that I’d make again!
Holy cannoli these are good!!! If you’re looking for a delicious twist on the usual stuffed shells that use ground beef and cheese, this is it! The seasonings are spot on – no need to add anything else. I used boneless country style ribs and the meat was just fall apart tender. I followed the recipe exactly, except that I ended up adding a bit more of the cooking liquid (about 1/4 cup more) to the meat mixture so it would be nice and moist. Taking into account the broken shells that always come in a pasta box, I ended up with 30 very well stuffed shells. I also used a slightly bigger dish – 11 x 13 – to fit them all. While stuffing shells might be a little time consuming, the finished dish is WELL worth it. I will definitely be making this again. It would be a perfect dish to wow company!