If I have ever made you my Stuffed Shell’s before you most likely asked for the recipe. Not to toot my own horn or anything but these shells are really freakin good. Chad, my husband, has been bugging to make these for him for a few weeks now and brought it up on this past Monday but didn’t really have the motivation to do so. But, the next day my coworker and friend, Lyndsay, asked me for the recipe.
A little back story: Lyndsay and her husband had their first baby back in February of this year and as a welcome home baby gift we brought these shells along with a pan of them for the freezer so they had an easy meal for a later date!
She asked me for the recipe because one of her close friends is about to have her first baby and wanted to pay forward the same gesture we did for her because she appreciated it so much! I never knew how much it helped her and I’m so glad she told me 🙂 . I was doing it for more selfish reasons like getting to snuggle with her newborn…
So, I got to kill two birds with one stone!
One of the great things about this recipe is that you most likely have everything you need in your kitchen besides the ricotta cheese!
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Start boiling pasta on stove. I use a large tall pot so there is enough room for the large shells to fit and expand. One 9×13 pan can fit about 24 shells.
Now that the shells are cooking time to start making the sauce. On medium heat brown ground turkey or beef in a pan. I personally use lean ground turkey meat. It has almost zero grease and healthier for you!
While the meat is browning add seasoning. This is a small thing that adds great flavor and I don’t think many people think to do it. I add garlic salt (which I basically use in all of my savory cooking), Italian seasoning and ground pepper (way better than table pepper).
While the meat is browning I make the cheese filling for the shells.
I used about 3/4 of a 34 oz ricotta cheese container, half of a 8 oz bag of mozzarella or any Italian blend cheese and 1/4 cup of Parmesan. Mix together until blended into the ricotta cheese. Set aside in the fridge.
By this time your meat should be browned and ready to combine with the Italian red sauce. I personally use Prego flavored with Meat-only reasoning is because I like the flavor. You can use whatever sauce you prefer.
Pour 3/4 of the jar into the pan with the browned meat and simmer at low heat. This allows the seasoned meat to meld with the tomato sauce.
The remainder of the sauce will go into your 9×13 baking pan. Spread the sauce evenly to cover the entire bottom on the pan. This will allow the shells to not stick to the bottom when you scoop them out.
Now that you have the sauce simmering you need to stuff your shells with the cheese mixture. With your cooked and drained shells I create an assembly line of sorts to make it easy to assemble.
I use the pot that I cooked the shells with under the strainer to not only hold the shells for me but to catch any extra water that wasn’t able to drain. Also shown above is how your pan should look after you spread the sauce to cover the bottom of it.
CAUTION: the shells may still be hot from draining them. Keep rinsing them in cold water until they are a comfortable temperature for you. I have a crazy resistance to heat so I can basically start filling them once they are out of the pot.
Stuffing the shells can be a little tricky but easy to catch on. One side of the shell will open a little bigger than the other side of the shell to allow you to fill it. Use the spoon to drop each dollop inside the shell. Use as much or as little as you see fit. Chad likes his extra cheesy so I tend to fill them up. Don’t be afraid to use your thumb/finger to pack in the cheese. Your shell should look like the 4th picture below.
Place the shell seam up in the pan on top of the sauce. If you run out of cheese mixture (which I always do) use the extra cheeses to make more.
Your pan of shells should look something like this when you’re done.
Take the meat sauce. Pour it on top of the shells and spread until covered.
Sprinkle remaining mozzarella cheese on top of the shells and sauce.
Bake until bubbling and cheese on top is golden brown.
I served my shells with a simple salad and garlic bread-no fail Italian side dishes to the rescue! Don’t forget a healthy pour of red wine 🙂
Want to make this dish a little bit healthier for you and your family?
Add cooked drained spinach to your cheese mixture!
INGREDIENTS:
YIELD 5-6 servings
1 Box of Large Pasta Shells (I used less than 1 box)
1 24 oz Jar of Spaghetti Sauce
1 lb of Ground Turkey or Beef
1 8 oz Package of Mozzarella or Italian Blend Cheese
32-24 oz of Ricotta Cheese
1/4 cup of Parmesan Cheese
Garlic Salt, Pepper and Italian Seasoning to taste
DIRECTIONS:
- Fill large pot with water. Add about 24 shells and cover to boil/cook.
- With a large pan add one pound of ground turkey or beef and brown with seasonings at medium heat.
- With a medium bowl combine ricotta cheese, mozzarella and parmesan until evenly mixed. Set aside in fridge.
- Once meat is browned add 3/4 of the jar of spaghetti sauce with meat and lower heat to simmer. Empty the remainder of the sauce into a 9×13 pan and spread evenly until bottom is coated.
- With drained and cooked pasta, stuff cheese mixture inside of shells. Place filled shell seam up in the sauce covered pan.
- Once all shells are layered in pan, pour meat sauce on top of stuffed shells and spread evenly.
- Sprinkle remaining cheese on top of shells.
- Bake in the oven at 375 degrees until bubbling and cheese is gold brown.
Freezer Warm up Directions:
I recommend to freeze them in a throw away tin container. Easier clean up for new moms if that is the reason you are making this too! When you package this use the top that comes with the throw away container or tinfoil works just fine. If you think this may sit in the freezer for awhile use a press and seal layer to help with freezer burn then add the given tin top or tinfoil.
All you need to do is preheat the oven to 375 degrees and cook until bubbly and cheese is golden brown.
TIP: Write directions on the top of the freezer shells so they can easily remember how to heat up!
Cheers!
