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.This post may contain affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy.
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.
P.S. – Don’t forget to “like” Handle the Heat on the updated Facebook page!
Spinach, Mushroom, & Ricotta Stuffed Shells
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.
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. I made it for dinner tonight and it was wonderful.
Yay!! 🙂
[…] Spinach, Mushrooms, and Ricotta Stuffed Shells […]
[…] Spinach, Mushroom, and Ricotta Stuffed Shells: This is my new go-to shells recipe. The ricotta filling is super smooth and creamy. […]
This reciepe is amazing.very easy and I used all fresh ingredients!!! I made Paul prudan red gravy from fresh ingredients as well!i love everyone’s variations,I would like to try the ground sausage!
[…] Adapted from Handle the Heat […]
GREAT recipe! I added in some extra herbs (fresh oregano and a touch of crushed red pepper, too). I also put only 1/3 of the sauce on the bottom, 1/3 IN the ricotta mix, and drizzled the remaining on top then covered with cheese. LOVE the fresh spinach rather than frozen! Will try adding sausage next time.
Hi there! I made this for dinner last weekend and it was super super delish!
Made it tonight and I substituted ground italian sausage for the mushrooms because myhusband wont go meatless ;)… so yummy
This looks amazing… Any suggestions for substituting the mushrooms? My roommate is allergic so I try to refrain from using them.
The original recipe in Real Simple doesn't use mushrooms (or basil), so you could just leave the mushrooms out and it should work fine.
Turned out great!
Thanks for this. I stumbled on your website looking for this recipe! off to make it for dinner…
Yes it does change. I used fresh spinach. If you wanted to use frozen spinach, it would be about 2-3 ounces of frozen spinach (just make sure you thaw and strain out excess water).