Mashed Potato Stuffed Shells

I am Jewish, which means I like carbs. As a general rule, our holidays are celebrated with glutinous Ashkenazic gluttony: starches upon starches, grains and potatoes and matzo meal and challahs galore. The spread, with its reliable tan palette, can be found throughout the Jewish diaspora, particularly on tables surrounded by those of Eastern European descent.

After moving to New York City at 18, I found myself surrounded by other family’s traditional holiday foods, adopting their kasha varnishkes and fluffy matzo balls as my own, accepting their avoidance to kishke and perhaps calling my grandma for her cholent recipe when I wanted to make a pot of beans and potatoes to last a whole week. I sought out the foods of my childhood on Jewish holidays, opting for the also traditional Chinatown foray on Christmas and coveted brunch reservation on Easter.

That is, until I met my wife (who also joyously eats matzo balls and challah alongside me, for the record). A year into our relationship, I visited her Pennsylvania hometown for Christmas, unsure what to expect. I’d seen the movies, heard her stories, but what if I ruined the allure of Santa Claus for our little niece? Or, worse, didn’t like the food?

On Christmas Day, we visited her aunt’s home, where a cozy spread of their family favorites welcomed us in slow cookers and heating trays across the kitchen counter. It featured sliced ham and potato rolls, cocktail meatballs, baked spaghetti, and a delightful dual-carb concoction completely new to me: potato stuffed shells. A lifelong pasta and potato enthusiast, I likely did a little happy jump, nudging my wife. This was a thing you could do? Potatoes IN pasta? The jumbo shells weren’t merely gnocchi (pasta made with potatoes) or pierogi (potato stuffed dumplings), but two of my favorite things layered into one titillating side dish, reminiscent of the foods my own, very Jewish family celebrates for holidays.

I drizzled some sauce from the meatballs across my styrofoam plate, hefty with the duplex carb vessels, and I was hooked. Ever since, I’ve looked forward to the shells every year, in 2020 making my own version because even a pandemic wasn’t going to stop our carbs-in-carbs Christmas. 

Although we believe the original recipe uses instant mashed potatoes, I used a skin-on, heartier version here, and added some cheese for flavor and gooeyness. Now, my own rendition is in our household’s family cookbook, a melding of my wife’s family holiday food with my flare for finding ways to add starchy foods to anything, and they’re perfect as a side dish, main course, or, well, post-holiday brunch. 

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