Smoked Shotgun Shells
These smoked shotgun shells are simple to make as a smoked appetiser or for a main meal when you're looking for something a little different.
Ingredients
- 1.5 kg premium beef or pork mince
- 2 x 250g instant cannellini pasta tubes
- ½ large onion finely chopped
- 1.1 kg of sliced streaky bacon
- 60 g of grated cheese Mozzarella or tasty are good
- 1 cup BBQ sauce
- Your preferred dry rub mix
Instructions
- Add mince, chopped onion, approx ¼ dry rub (from above) and grated cheese to a large bowl and mix well.
- Stuff individual cannelloni shells with meat mixture. Make sure to not leave any air pockets.
- Wrap each shell in a slice of streaky bacon. Depending on how long the streaky bacon is you make need to use 2 slices to cover the entire shell.
- Dust each individual shotgun shell with leftover dry rub.
- Place wrapped shells into the fridge for 4-6 hours to soften.
- Prep your smoker by heating your briquettes until they are completely ashed over and add them to your charcoal basket. Aim for a smoker temperature between 100c - 120C (220-250F)
- Add your favorite smoking wood and wait until you get a thin blue smoke.
- Place the shotgun shells evenly on the grill grate, cover and smoke for approx 1-1 ½ hours
- Increase your smoker to 180c and baste shotgun shells with a BBQ marinate.
- Cook for another 15-20mins allowing the BBQ sauce to become sticky. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
Don't skip the refrigeration time for your prepared shells otherwise you will end up with uncooked, hard pasta shells.
If you're having trouble with getting your smoker up to temp just put your shotgun shells in the oven to finish off, saving you some time, trouble and the possibility of overcooking the shells.