Looking for a good recipe or process for making shotgun shells. There are a lot of recipes online but I haven't found anything definitive. TIA!

Start with Winchester AA paper hulls and 7 1/2 size shot.

After looking online, it seems the biggest problem with them is getting the pasta to cook through. It doesn't appear there's enough moisture in the meat to cook the pasta. You could parcook the pasta, but then the tubes are likely harder to stuff. Maybe someone else can chime in, but this looks like something that should be good, but in practical terms, it's way more difficult to get everything done correctly.

This is one of those things that homemade really has now advantyover store bought unless you just really enjoy the process.

Rifle cartridges on the other hand………

HTownAg98 said:

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Start with Winchester AA paper hulls and 7 1/2 size shot.

After looking online, it seems the biggest problem with them is getting the pasta to cook through. It doesn't appear there's enough moisture in the meat to cook the pasta. You could parcook the pasta, but then the tubes are likely harder to stuff. Maybe someone else can chime in, but this looks like something that should be good, but in practical terms, it's way more difficult to get everything done correctly.

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You've hit on the issue, HTown. One site said that if you prepare them ahead of time and allow them to rest in the fridge before cooking then the pasta will soften. If you plan to cook them right away then they recommended boiling the manicotti for 3 minutes. The other issue I have is the filling. Not sure if I should cook the meat before stuffing the shells.

I think if you put the filling in cooked there won't be enough moisture to finish cooking the pasta.

Just closing the loop on this. Ended up using a recipe similar to the link below. He used Italian sausage but I used breakfast sausage. I was hoping to make the filling a little creamier so I added cream cheese plus cheddar but it still came out pretty meaty.

Took about an hour to mix and stuff the shells and then I let them rest an hour before cooking. Shells came out tender. They were pretty big so I cut them in half after cooking but before saucing. Worked much better as an appetizer that way. I thought they were okay but people really seemed to like them and were already requesting them again. Definitely a good appetizer if you're looking for something different.

They're a novelty; something different. I've cooked them several times with venison pan sausage and shredded gouda and folks dig it. I haven't been able to find manicotti so i've only used cannelloni. 300* for one hour has worked out well.

Ezra Brooks said:

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What's the appeal here? Just doesn't look good to me and like A LOT of work .

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I gotta concur here.

I mean - I LOVE stuffed jalepenos, I guess maybe those are an equal amount of work, but I don't know that I want pasta anywhere near my BBQ.

Ezra Brooks said:

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What's the appeal here? Just doesn't look good to me and like A LOT of work .

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For me, the appeal was trying something new cuz I get tired of serving the same 3 or 4 apps. I thought they were okay but the people I served them to thought they were really good. I actually think they could be great with some experimentation.

Re: the pasta shell, I think it would be interesting to lean into it. Maybe make a lasagna bite that's filled with ricotta and a good meat sauce.

Ezra Brooks said:

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What's the appeal here? Just doesn't look good to me and like A LOT of work .

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I tried them because they were different, but they are a heavy appetizer or light meal. Made some sausage "poor man" burnt end style and that was the perfect combination. The sauce mixed with the fat from the sausage was perfect to dip these things in and they were a hit. They are not too much work since it more assembly line type stuff and a double batch goes a long way.