Lumachone - Pasta Snails with Veal, Sage, Bay Leaf and Tomato

This is a rich dish, enough for a one course meal with crusty bread and a green salad

Serves 6

Ingredients

500 grams lean white veal
30 ml oil
salt and pepper
bacon or prosciutto optional
3 branches thyme
2 bay leaf
6 sage leaves
1 onion, sliced
whole garlic clove
300 grams tomato, diced (or good quality peeled and chopped in tin)
sugar
1/3 of bunch chives
1 stalk of Chinese celery
2 stalks of parsley
12 leaves basil
100 grams parmesan,
100 grams butter
Imported dry white shells (dough is made with part semolina) 8 per person, as they are filled with meat and very rich for entree; 14-15 for main course.

Method

Clean and slice the veal, cook gently in a little oil, salt and pepper. Bacon or prosciutto can be added for extra flavour but if it is good young veal, it doesn't need it. Young veal should not be mixed with other flavours.

After the meat is cooked, put in mincer with herbs. Note -Don't mince the meat first, as it will stick together when you try and cook it

In pan with a bit of oil, fry off the onion and garlic, then add tomato

Add salt and pepper and a bit of sugar.

Briefly cook together the chives, celery, parsley and basil in a little oil.. Don't cook too much as this goes into the oven, just amalgamate over heat. Then put into a vitamizer with the tomato mix and make into a cream. This is used under the pasta shells and a little on top.

The tomato mix should be a nice creamy texture. Put 1/2 into the mince and put 1/2 on the bottom of gratin dishes (you can make up one large dish or individual serves). The filling should be quite loose, it does not hold together.

Leave a little bit for the top.

Put some parmesan into meat mix but leave some to cover the top of pasta shells before they go in oven, with a little bit of butter. This gives the pasta shells a nice topping.

Pre-cook pasta shells in boiling salted water for 6 minutes. Take the shells and push the mince and tomato filling into each and lay on sauce in a baking dish

Grate a fair bit of parmesan over them , and dot with butter. Bake in a slow oven 150o for 35 minutes.

Serve the individual gratin dishes directly onto an under plate (warn your guests not to touch them!) or serve at the table from a large baking dish onto hot plates.