Stuffed Shells
Stuffed shells are large pasta filled with creamy ricotta, spinach, and cheese, baked in marinara for a comforting, cheesy meal.
Prep Time 5 minutes mins
Cook Time 45 minutes mins
Total Time 50 minutes mins
Course Main Course
Cuisine Italian
- 1 box jumbo shells
- 1 jar tomato sauce of your choice
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 medium sized onion finely diced
- 5 basil leaves chiffonade
- 1 lb Italian sausage
- 1 pint ricotta cheese
- 1 egg
- 8 oz spinach cooked
- 4 tbsp salt and pepper divided
- 2 tbsp dried oregano
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- ½ tbsp red pepper flakes
- 1 tbsp smoked paprika
- ½ cup parmesan
- ½ cup mozzarella
- 2 tbsp oil
- basil to garnish
To a pot of boiling water, boil shells until just beneath al dente. This should take 6 minutes.
To a skillet on medium-high heat, add in oil and cook sausage until browned. Follow with onion and garlic. Remove ¼ of sausage and set aside.
Add tomato sauce and basil to sausage and lower your heat to a simmer. Add half of the salt and pepper
To a separate bowl, combine remaining sausage, ricotta, egg, spinach, remaining salt and pepper, garlic powder, red pepper flake, and oregano. Mix well.
Fill each shell with the ricotta mixture.
In a baking dish, ladle tomato sauce in the bottom of the pan to cover the base. Place shells on top of tomato sauce. Top shells with more tomato sauce and bake for 20 minutes.
Remove from oven, garnish with basil, and serve immediately.