Crab-Stuffed Shells with Mornay Sauce

Slightly adapted from preventionrd.com

I made these stuffed shells for our Valentine's dinner this year.  This was only my second time cooking with crab, and it was another success!  Since it is just the two of us, I halved the recipe.  I put the original ingredients and measurements below, indicating in the parentheses what I left out.  I only left these ingredients out because I simply did not have them.  

I served this with a side of roasted asparagus, which I made just like my Balsamic Roasted Asparagus, only minus the balsamic vinegar and with the addition of some paprika sprinkled over it.

Ingredients:

20-24 large pasta shells
2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 red bell pepper, diced

2 stalks celery, diced (I omitted)
1 medium onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
16 oz lump crab meat (I used blue crab)
¼ cup fresh minced parsley (I used 1 T dried)

¼ tsp salt
Mornay sauce (recipe follows)
3 oz Gruyere cheese, shredded
Fresh minced chives (I omitted)

Mornay Sauce:
4 Tbsp unsalted butter

5 Tbsp all-purpose flour
3 cup milk (I used skim)
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
3 oz Gruyere cheese, shredded

Directions:

Cook the pasta shells to just under al dente, according to the package directions. Set aside (I sprayed mine with a bit of nonstick cooking spray to keep them from sticking to each other).

Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium-low heat.  Saute the peppers, celery, and onion until softened (10-15 minutes), stirring occasionally. Do not brown the vegetables.  Add the garlic and saute an additional 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly.

For the Mornay: In a medium pot over medium-low heat, warm the milk just until it comes to a very slight simmer. In another medium pot over medium-low heat, melt the butter; whisk in the flour. This will form your roux.  Whisk the roux constantly for about 3 minutes. Slowly whisk the hot milk into the roux; then add the salt and pepper.

Increase the heat and bring the mixture to a boil.  Boil it for about 3 minutes, whisking constantly. Turn off the heat and whisk in the shredded Gruyere.

Preheat the oven to 350º F and spray a 9x13-inch casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray. In a large bowl, mix the cooked vegetables, crab, parsley, 1 cup of the Mornay sauce, and ¼ tsp salt. Stuff the crab mixture into the shells and place in the 9x13-inch dish (I placed the seam of the shells face-up).  Top with the remaining Mornay sauce.

Bake for 20 minutes.  Then top with the remaining 3 oz of Gruyere and bake another 10 minutes.  Garnish with chives.

Yields:  4-6 servings.