Tessa’s Recipe Rundown
Taste: Addictive savory falvor; a lovely melding (or should I say “melting”) of Italian flavors.
Texture: CHEESY. With meaty chunks of mushroom and toothsome pasta.
Ease: This only took me 15 minutes to prepare. Perfect for a meatless family dinner.
Appearance: When I pulled my baking dish out of the oven I nearly drooled all over it. I happen to adore crisped cheese (if you like yours a little less crisp, broil for less time).
Pros: Cheesy pasta. That’s a pro in and of itself, right?
Cons: None. Except for maybe that fact that your lactose intolerant friends can’t enjoy. Which means more for you. Yay!
Would I make this again? YES. I’ve been eating leftovers for lunch. Might change the flavor profile next time or substitute whatever is in season/in my fridge.
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On Monday I blogged about those days in life when you just need a serving of carbs overloaded with cheese. I guess there are a lot of days like that in my life because today’s recipe is for cheese stuffed pasta. Whoops. Don’t hate me. Love me. Because this recipe is delicious, quick enough to get on the table tonight, and happens to be a great meatless option. Plus it’s super cheap, about $2 a serving. Take that, fast food.
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Spinach, Mushroom, & Ricotta Stuffed Shells
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Ingredients
- 20 jumbo pasta shells (about half a 12-ounce box)
- 1 24- ounce jar marinara sauce (or 3 cups homemade sauce)
- 1 15- ounce container part-skim ricotta
- 2 cups baby spinach, chopped
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
- 8 oz chopped mushrooms
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan (2 ounces)
- kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup grated mozzarella (4 ounces)
Instructions
- Set an oven rack to the highest position and heat oven to 400° F. Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Drain and run under cold water to cool.
- Spread the marinara sauce in the bottom of a large broilerproof baking dish.
- In a bowl, combine the ricotta, spinach, basil, mushrooms, Parmesan, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Spoon the mixture into the shells and place them on top of the sauce. Alternatively, transfer mixture into a large ziploc bag, snip one corner, and pipe filling into shells.
- Sprinkle the shells with the mozzarella and bake until heated through, 10 to 12 minutes.
- Increase heat to broil. Broil the shells until cheese begins to brown, 2 to 5 minutes. Serve with the salad.
I amazed myself, the recipe was so easy and the bomb.com, my wife just loved it also. I’ll be making this a lot!!!
So happy to hear this recipe was a hit! Thanks for the comment, Brian 🙂
Hi – I did not want a tomato based sauce, so made a lighter mushroom sauce (onions, garlic, white wine, chicken broth, and mushrooms), I also added about 1/4 pound of Italian sausage to the stuffing mix. Not vegetarian, but added a nice mixture of Italian herbs, etc – since there is ricotta and mozzarella, I added about 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg. the results were terrific and it made enough for 2 baking pans – one in the oven and one in the freezer. Recommend it.
My husband absolutely adores it and I generally end up making it once a week. It doesn’t always stay meatless, though. I’m known to add cooked chunked chicken into the mix and it’s just as amazing!
My son isn’t crazy about red sauce.. which makes me sad.. but he loves the white sauces.. Has anyone tried a bechamel or alfredo type sauce with this stuffed shell recipe?
Cooking this tonight!! DO I need to sauté the spinach and mushrooms before putting them in mix?!?
Yes! Not sure why this step is omitted as the raw veggies release a lot of water. I also press a paper towel on the sauteed spinach and mushrooms just to pull out any additional water before combining with the ricotta. I also recommend regular ricotta and adding one medium egg to the ricotta- veggie filling mix as a binder.
What does the addition of the egg do? I prepared the filling before Christmas but always can add the egg.
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