It may come in shells (5)

I believe the answer is:

pasta

(Other definitions for pasta that I've seen before include "Linguine, e.g." , "The stuff of spaghetti, macaroni etc" , "Flour and water foodstuff" , "Staple Italian food base" , "Rigatoni, tortellini etc" .)

I've seen this clue in The New York Times.

Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.