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[Timmy]

Personally I’m not a big fan of shotgun shells. I’ve done the twice now with not very good outcome.
Now pig shots on the other hand aren’t to hard to make and there is no pasta involved.

 

[RustyJake]

Well, this got a big "Don't make these things again" from SWMBO. I followed the Meat Church recipe except the Hatch Chilies since there were none available.

SWMBO was not happy with the pasta shell. It was al dente, but the pointy ends were crunchy.

If I were to do this again, I would season the meat before stuffing and find a way to cover all of the pasta shell with bacon. More bacon? More bacon makes everything better.

I'd probably skip the sauce and maybe baste it with some garlic butter and serve it up with some fresh Tzatziki sauce next time.

Did you use the 'oven ready' noodles? They are what i used, I didn't have any issues with the noodle texture with those. I didn't have a lot of exposed noodle. The only time I had noodles that weren't as soft was when I shortened the rest time.
One thing you can do with them if the ends are hard is to slice the rolls into appy sized pieces. That way just the two end pieces will have the crunchy bits if there are any. SWMBO may be able to select the more tender pieces.

 

[MidwestSmoker]

SWMBO was not happy with the pasta shell. It was al dente, but the pointy ends were crunchy.

Whenever a recipe calls for uncooked pasta (such as in some mac & cheese and lasagne recipes), i always SOAK the pasta in water for about 2 hours. That softens them up enough to finish off with the rest of the cook. Try that next time.

 

[GrillMeister]

Whenever a recipe calls for uncooked pasta (such as in some mac & cheese and lasagne recipes), i always SOAK the pasta in water for about 2 hours. That softens them up enough to finish off with the rest of the cook. Try that next time.

Do you stuff them before soaking?

 

[RustyJake]

Do you stuff them before soaking?

@MidwestSmoker got me thinking that maybe 'spritzing' the shells with a water mist (or even bruahed with a light coat of BBQ sauce) before wrapping with bacon may help. Wrap and then let them sit overnight in the fridge after the mist/sauce.
I always buy oven ready shells because I hated stuffing the shells once they were soft when making cannelloni or manicotti.
I may try misting them or brushing a little BBQ sauce on. Maybe even an egg wash which would help adhere the bacon to the shell.

 

[MidwestSmoker]

Do you stuff them before soaking?

Good question! I have not made shotgun shells yet, but I might go with the suggestion of @RustyJake and spritz them after stuffing, but before wrapping in bacon. An alternative is to mix some water into the stuffing cheese. Pasta absorbs water very well, but the water must be available.

 

[RustyJake]

Another option could be using fresh pasta. We can get fresh pasta noodles here, they must have these shells as well. Haven't seen the fresh empty shells, but I haven't actually looked for thm. Definitely an option if they were available.

 

[GrillMeister]

Good question! I have not made shotgun shells yet, but I might go with the suggestion of @RustyJake and spritz them after stuffing, but before wrapping in bacon. An alternative is to mix some water into the stuffing cheese. Pasta absorbs water very well, but the water must be available.

Good idea, but as SWMBO told me, why go through all that effort for something mediocre like this when you can make awesome ABT"s (stuffed bacon wrapped jalapeños) with the same effort and no waiting 4+ hours or overnight.

I think the hype is overrated on this, but it was a learning moment, at least for me. It's one thing when you make something and folk's go "Meh", but when you invest so much TIME in it, that's what is mostly disappointing.

 

[Slimpicker]

Good idea, but as SWMBO told me, why go through all that effort for something mediocre like this when you can make awesome ABT"s (stuffed bacon wrapped jalapeños) with the same effort and no waiting 4+ hours or overnight.

I think the hype is overrated on this, but it was a learning moment, at least for me. It's one thing when you make something and folk's go "Meh", but when you invest so much TIME in it, that's what is mostly disappointing.

Well, I'd have to say you would need to make the insides something to go over... Like a Chorizo sausage and maybe smoked pepperjack cheese... something to call it a KICK of an appetizer. Otherwise you can just buy deer or sausage sticks with cheese and get the same snack. I dunno.

 

[MidwestSmoker]

The attraction of the shotgun shells compared to jalapeño poppers is that there are many who won't touch the poppers because they are afraid of jalapeños. I'm sure that reaction is rare in Texas (!), but it is quite common here.

 

[RustyJake]

The attraction of the shotgun shells compared to jalapeño poppers is that there are many who won't touch the poppers because they are afraid of jalapeños. I'm sure that reaction is rare in Texas (!), but it is quite common here.

Have to sneak in some Jalapeño into.the shells for those instances. Maybe for those that like the peppers, put a sliced strip or two inside before you stuff the meat. I think that would look nice and give these a bit if a kick to amp the flavor.
I may try a strip or two in each shell the next time I do them.
@GrillMeister review may be generating a lot of new ideas to try. I may be the odd one out, but with the mild and hot Italian sausage I used, I enjoyed them the way they were. But I am always willing to try new things to a recipe. I even made my own breakfast sausage this morning take a breakfast fatty for dinner tonight. Now I want to make a bunch more, either patties or stuffed links. My sample piece tasted pretty darn good. And it was so easy to make