Easy Dinner Recipe: Stuffed Shells

Posted on October 26, 2017

I feel like I make the same ten dishes over and over again.

For one thing, I know what I like, and if I’m going to spend an hour in the kitchen I’m going to make something I like.

For another thing, New York groceries are expensive. The thought of buying a haul of ingredients to try something new and have it turn out badly isn’t too appealing.

So most of the time, I make the same few standbys over and over. One of them is stuffed shells.

Cheese. Pasta. Cheese. Red sauce. CHEESE. And there’s spinach thrown in there too because I’m healthy like that. What’s not to love?

This recipe will make enough for at least four people, or two people with tons of leftovers, which I live for. It’s pretty heavy (hi, cheese), so serve it with a Caesar salad on the side so you don’t feel like a balloon full of jello when you’re done eating.

Ingredients

1 box jumbo shells
2 cloves garlic
A hearty helping of spinach (I do a jumbo frying pan full)
1 large container (approx. 14 oz) ricotta cheese
1 8 oz. bag shredded mozzarella cheese, separated
½ cup grated parmesan cheese
1 large egg
1 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
2 tsp basil or Italian seasoning
2 small jars or one large jar of your favorite pasta sauce

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and dump your jumbo shells in. Cook to your liking (I think that’s what they call al dente?)

2. While the pasta is boiling, heat a teaspoon or two of olive oil in a pan. Mince the garlic and heat it in the oil for a minute. Toss the spinach in the oil and cook until it’s wilted (about 4 or 5 minutes).

3. In a large bowl, combine the ricotta cheese, half the mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese, egg, salt, pepper and basil or Italian seasoning. Mix well with a wooden spoon. When the spinach is wilted, add it to the bowl.

4. When the pasta is cooked, drain it and run cool water over it. I heard somewhere that doing this allegedly ruins the pasta, but you’re about to pick these shells up with your bare hands and if you don’t run them in cool water you’ll get scalded, so take your pick.

5. Set out two baking dishes (this usually makes way more than one dish worth). Coat the bottom of each dish with a little pasta sauce.

6. Get ready to get your hands dirty. Fill each shell with a generous portion of the cheese mixture and layer them in the dish.

7. Top with the pasta sauce and another layer of mozzarella cheese. Pop those bad boys in the oven for about 30 minutes, or until the sauce around the edges is bubbling.