Shotgun shells
The internets tell me that these are all the rage in the US right now, but every time I’ve mentioned them to an American, they’ve not had a clue what I was talking about. One even went so far as to ask me why I was cooking with high explosives. Clearly, she doesn’t know me nearly as well as she thinks.
There’s nothing more American than meat wrapped around other meat.
–an American
Once the concept’s been explained to them, though, the responses have been enthusiastic. “There’s nothing more American than meat wrapped around other meat”, said one. Having actually provided these at a couple of barbecues now, I can confirm that they are indeed fantastic. Another friend upon tasting immediately pronounced them “cylinders of awesomeness”. I like that phrase and I think I’mma keep it.
They are a bit of faff to construct, but it’s time-consuming rather than difficult. Blue and I set up a production line with two stations, and got them all stuffed, filled and wrapped, sufficient for a party of six, in no time. They work great on the barbecue but they’ve also gone well when done inside onna rainy day.
The ingredients for these are near-infinitely configurable. Recommended proportions are in the recipe below, but swapping things about is encouraged. Don’t have any gouda handy? use cheddar. Fancy using turkey mince and a Thai-inspired lime-and-coriander seasoning? go ahead. (Actually, I need to try that one.) The one constraint is that the stuffing needs a good quantity of fat in it, so that the pasta shells can cook through from the inside.
Shotgun shells
Equipment
- baking tray
- foil
- patience
Ingredients
- 300 g mince half and half pork and beef mince, with a fairly high fat content.
- 300 g cheese half and half gouda and parmesan is the default, but feel free to mix it up.
- 8 chillies obviously, vary according to taste.
- 8 canneloni shells assuming two per person
- 16 rashers streaky bacon
- barbecue sauce Unholy Sauce is the One True Sauce
Instructions
- Chop your chillies nice and small, grate your cheese. Mush it all up together with the mince in a big bowl. (Use your hands. Go on, you know you want to. Feel the squidge.) Add whatever other seasonings you like. Remember the filling should be nice and moist, but not runny.
- Bring a large saucepan to the boil with salted water. Drop in your cannelonis (cannelonii? cannelonodes?) and part-cook them, five minutes or so. You want them slightly soft, but still with enough structure that you can stuff them without letting them split.
- Rinse the pasta tubes under cold water to stop them sticking together.
- Set up your production line.
- The easiest way to stuff mince into a cannelonus is to roll a quantity into a sausage first, slide it in, then plug up the ends with more mince. An air bubble or two inside is fine, but you don't want large gaps in the middle.
- Wrap each tube with two rashers of streaky bacon.
- Arrange them onna baking tray. Brush each bacon tube all over with barbecue sauce. Don't forget the underneaths.
- Cover with foil so they'll cook in their own steam. Oven-bake them on lowish (160°) until they're mostly done. It should probably take about forty minutes until the pasta is tender.
- Remove the foil, brush with more barbecue sauce, and crank up the heat. This is the point where you can finish them off on the barbecue, if you've got an actual fire going.
Enjoy.
