Here is a recipe my kids LOVE! I avoided stuffed pasta for a long time because I thought it was too complicated, but when I finally tried it, I realized it is really not as hard as I thought. It is a bit time consuming, so this isn’t a quick weeknight meal, but it is a great one if you have a little extra time. This is also a great dish to make in bulk and freeze for meals later. Also, if you are avoiding cheese you can substitute tofu for the ricotta and leave out the mozzarella cheese. But since I am a fan of cheese (everything in moderation friends 🙂 ), we are going for it!
This yummy meal starts with a really simple sauce, onions, garlic, tomatoes, and basil. Simply delicious!
Add the Basil last because over cooking can dull the flavor of basil.
Cook 25-30 large pasta shells. Undercook (al dente +1) them so they are still fairly stiff to allow you to fill them easily.
I have shredded a whole zucchini and added it to the stuffing mixture of ricotta cheese (you can use soft or crumbled firm tofu), mozzarella and egg. This boosts the nutritional value and adds texture to this dish. You can also add some cooked spinach in place of the Zucchini. Spinach stuffed shells are divine, but I get too many complaints about spinach, so I limit my spinach use for my own emotional well-being. Don’t forget the lemon, it really makes this filling really, really yummy.
I have a small helper to help me fill the shells :). Add about 1 cup of sauce to the bottom of oiled baking dish. Then, I use a pastry filler/piping bag (whatever that thing is called) to fill each shell with about 1-2Tbsp of cheese mixture. If you don’t have a piping bag thingy, you can just use a spoon.
Gently Lay them open side up in the baking dish and cover with remaining sauce. Cover with foil and bake for 350degrees for 20-30minutes until bubbly.
Serve with a side salad or roasted cauliflower or broccoli and enjoy!
- 2-3Tbsp EVOO
- ½ cup onion, diced
- 4-5 cloves of garlic minced, (oh ya, this is garlicly and so yummy)
- 2 (15oz) cans of Diced tomatoes (you can substitute one can of tom sauce for a saucier sauce)
- 1 cup (whole leaves) of Basil, finely minced
- Good size pinch of course sea salt
- Generous black pepper
- 1 15oz Container of Ricotta cheese
- 1 egg
- ½ cup grated mozzarella
- 1 med Zucchini grated with cheese grater
- Juice from ½ lemon, (2-3Tbsp)
- Pinch of course sea salt -
- Fresh ground pepper
- 25-30 Jumbo dried shells
- Add EVOO, tomatoes, onion, garlic, salt and pepper to sauce plan. Cook until mixed for 10minutes or so.
- Cook Jumbo shells in salted water until softened but still stiff enough to fill. Al dente +1. Remove from water and allow to cool. Runing colod water on them helps cool them down and keeps them from sticking together.
- Add Basil and gently mix in. Simmer on low for 10 or so minutes until ready to pour on pasta
- In a large bowl, mix ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese, Zucchini, lemon juice, egg, salt and pepper.
- In oiled baking dish put about ½ cup of sauce and spread around as base for the shells.
- Using a frosting piper/pastry filler (what do they call that thing?) fill each shell until full, do not overfill.
- Place each filled shell, open side up, into sauced baking dish.
- Pour remaining sauce over the top and cover with foil
- Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30minutes until it's bubbly.
- Enjoy!
