If you have some yummy spaghetti sauce on hand and want to make something different than plain ol’ spaghetti, this is a winning recipe! It’s not overly difficult to make (aside from stuffing those pesky shells) and makes a really nice meal that has all your veggies in it!
I pretty much used my recipe for my Spinach Lasagna Roll-Ups, but just changed some of the cheese amounts. I feel pretty proud of this recipe, as all the online versions I found for it made anywhere from 24 to 30 shells — way more than I wanted! I went with my gut feeling, and figured 16 shells would do the trick with the amount of stuffing I use for my roll-ups. I was SPOT ON! Woo hoo! I served this with green salad and baked garlic bread. We ate half one night, then finished the other half the next, but you can freeze the leftovers if you want.
Italian Pasta Shells Stuffed with Spinach and Cheese
16 uncooked Jumbo shell pasta
3 cups Paul’s Spicy Spaghetti Sauce, or other prepared sauce
1 15-ounce container Ricotta cheese
3/4 cup shredded Mozzarella (I used a block of low-fat and shredded it with a grater)
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan
2 teaspoons minced garlic
10-ounces frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 large egg, beaten
Ground black pepper, to taste
Salt or Mrs. Dash, to taste
Pinch of ground nutmeg
Additional shredded Mozzarella, for topping
Preheat oven to 400°F. Cook the noodles to al dente according to package directions. While the noodles are cooking, combine the Ricotta, Mozzarella, Parmesan, garlic, spinach, egg, pepper, salt or Mrs. Dash, and a pinch of nutmeg in a medium bowl.
When the noodles are done, drain the noodles, let cool a bit, then lay them on parchment or wax paper in a single layer.
Spread 1 cup of spaghetti sauce on the bottom of a 2-quart casserole dish. Stuff 1/4 cup or so of the cheese and spinach mixture into each pasta shell and place into the dish.
Pour 2 cups of spaghetti sauce over the stuffed shells. Grate additional mozzarella cheese over the top of the shells, then cover the pan with aluminum foil. Bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and turn on the broiler. Broil for about 5 to 10 minutes until cheese is bubbly.
Remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes before serving. Serve with a green side salad and garlic bread. You can freeze the remaining shells in Ziploc bags for a quick and easy future meal. My family loved this so much we ate the rest of it up the next day!
p.s. (Please let me indulge you with photos of my daughter’s rose she got at her dance team’s end-of-year potluck celebration! That was a long journey to get through dance season with the football and basketball schedules!)
Decadent and delicious! A perfect meal to pair with Italian Pinot Grigio or Fiano; two perfect whites for your wonderful dinner!
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Thanks Michelle! My internet has been down since 2 am last night, it just came back. Thank you for the wine suggestions! (And thank goodness I wrote and scheduled my post last night!)
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KR, that looks so good, i think i can smell it. And it’s pretty too. 😀 Hugs
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Aww thank you Teagan, you are so nice! Hugs back!
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A lot of work, but boy do those look fabulous!!! Love the filling!
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Thank you Mimi! It does take a little more effort than a lasagna, but they are so pretty!
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Your stuffed shells look yummy like real comfort food.
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Thank you Gerlinde, they were yummy and comforting. 🙂
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Reblogged this on anotherfoodieblogger and commented:
UPDATE! I so apologize to my readers, but I am so thankful for my readers who point out a mistake in my recipe and that they actually take the time to make my recipes! I am humbled!
However, I forgot to include in the instructions to mix the Mozzarella and Parmesan with the spinach and other ingredients. That has now been fixed, both in this post and in the PDF. I apologize for any inconvenience (or lack of taste) this has caused for you. As always, thank you so much for sticking with me on this adventure! XOXO
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These really do look delicious! I love stuffed shells and never make them. I know my son would die for them so I’m putting it on the menu list for this week. I feel kinda bad because the last two or three dinners weren’t his favorite so just earlier this morning I was thinking our next dinner needs to be something he will love. Great post!
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Oh, and I have found errors in my own recipes countless times! I go back and revisit some of the recipes on my own blog and am mortified that I made a mistake. I can’t click the edit button fast enough! 🙂 I’m really trying to be very careful now not to make mistakes. I’ll let you know when I make this.
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Thanks Seana, isn’t that a horrible feeling finding a mistake?
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Make sure you print out my updated recipe from this morning. I omitted adding in the required cheeses in the original, OOPS!
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Delicious. I must get some of those big shells working for me.
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Awesome Conor, I hope you can!
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Lovin’ the styling here Kathryn – dish looks incredible aswell!
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Thanks Rory, I’m always glad my readers like a recipe. 🙂
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