- These amazing stuffed shells recipe is baked in a classic tomato and white sauce with delicious meat and ricotta cheese filling.
PREPARATION TIME:
- Prep Time:25 minutes
- Cook Time:1 hour 30 minutes
INGREDIENTS:
- 12 ounce box of jumbo conchiglie rigate
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 peeled small diced yellow onion
- 2 finely minced cloves of garlic
- 8 ounces loose Italian sausage
- 8 ounces ground beef 85/15
- 5 ounces roughly chopped baby spinach
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
- 1 pound small diced fresh mozzarella
- 16 ounces whole milk ricotta cheese
- 1 ½ cups grated parmesan cheese
- 1 large egg
- 1/3 pomodoro sauce recipe
- 1 bechamel sauce recipe
- salt and pepper to taste
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat the oven to 425°.
- Boil the conchiglie pasta until al dente in a large pot of boiling salted water, which takes about 8-9 minutes while gently stirring. Remove the noodles from the water, chill in an ice bath and then spread out on a sheet tray lined with parchment paper and set to the side.
- Add the olive oil to a large rondeau pot over medium heat and cook the onions until lightly browned, which takes about 10 minutes. Next add in the garlic and cook for 1 minute.
- Add in the Italian sausage and ground beef and cook until lightly browned and cooked through. Make sure to cut it down into small pieces.
- Mix in the baby spinach just until wilted and then transfer the mixture to a large plate and slightly spread everything out and chill in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.
- Once cool transfer to a large bowl along with the basil, ½ the amount of small diced mozzarella, ricotta, 1 cup of parmesan cheese, large egg, and salt and pepper, and mix until completely combined.
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Using a small spoon or a piping bag stuffed with the meat and cheese filling, stuff each shell until they are completely full. I was able to get 28 stuffed shells.
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Evenly pour the pomodoro sauce into the bottom of a 13×9 casserole dish until it is coated.
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Next, randomly bour ¾ of the bechamel sauce on top of the tomato sauce. See Video.
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Line up as many stuffed shells as possible over the sauces. You may need to cook some in a separate dish if they all do not fit.
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Sprinkle on remaining small diced mozzarella and ½ cup of grated parmesan all over the top and bake at 425° for 25-30 minutes or until browned on top.
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Garnish with optional chopped parsley or basil.
NOTES
- Make-Ahead: This recipe is meant to be eaten as soon as it’s done cooking. You can however keep it warm covered in the oven at 200° for up to 30 minutes before cooking. In addition, if you want to prepare everything, you can assemble everything if it’s cold and chilled and then refrigerate covered 1 day before baking and serving. Add 10 minutes to your baking time since everything will be cold going into the oven.
- How to Store: Cover and keep it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. This will freeze covered for up to 3 months. You can freeze in the sauces or separate.
- How to Reheat: Add the number of stuffed shells with sauce to a saucepan and cover with foil and heat at 350° in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until hot.
- You can absolutely keep this recipe vegetarian by using all cheese and no meat. If doing so, add 1 more cup of cubed fresh mozzarella cheese to this recipe.
- It is ok to have leftover shell pasta as some of them will tear in the cooking and cooling process. Feel free to discard or keep the leftovers after stuffing.
- I had 8 shells that did not fit into the casserole dish so I baked them in a small separate dish.
NUTRITION
- Calories: 415kcalCarbohydrates: 23gProtein: 23gFat: 25gSaturated Fat: 12gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 87mgSodium: 562mgPotassium: 292mgFiber: 1gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 1438IUVitamin C: 4mgCalcium: 351mgIron: 2mg
