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Pasta Shells Stuffed with Ricotta, Spinach, and Sausage

How lovely are these shells?! The juxtaposition of their smooth sloping lines and ridges only hint at their potential beauty… stuff them with an excessive amount of cheese (and veggies and meat, just to cover all the food groups) and their true beauty is revealed in a hearty, satisfying, comforting weeknight meal. I liked these stuffed shells because each shell was like its own bite-size, all-inclusive lasagna (though I don’t believe anyone would be capable of eating just one.)

Unfortunately, gobs of cheese flecked with green oozing out of pasta, smothered in a red sauce don’t necessarily yield the most attractive photos (to some), but I assure you that even if you perhaps don’t find the pictures particularly appetizing, the shells themselves were amazing. I stuffed the shells with ingredients that I was feeling on that particular night (spinach, chicken sausage, parmesan, and basil), but you could simply stuff these shells with just ricotta and some aromatics and it would still be awesome. Or jazz it up with some “higher end” ingredients like crabmeat, lobster, or substitute tomato with a bechamel sauce. To me, this demonstrates one of the most useful recipes- endlessly versatile by substituting, adding, or subtracting ingredients based on your preference or availability of what’s in your kitchen, and extremely forgiving in terms of not requiring a strict recipe or quantities. Melt enough cheese and sauce together with some pasta, and it’s always a good meal.

Pasta Shells Stuffed with Ricotta, Spinach, and Sausage

These are the quantities of ingredients that I specifically used for our Thursday night meal. As I mentioned above, there are countless variations of this dish; you could imagine using ingredients such as shallots, leeks, butternut squash, other cheese toppings (pecorino, fresh mozzarella, asiago, fontina), ground meat, mushrooms, crabmeat. Go wild.

1 box (12 ounces) jumbo pasta shells
about 1 pound of Italian-seasoned chicken sausage (could subsitute pork sausage), removed from their casing
10 ounces fresh spinach (frozen could be substituted)
16 ounces of ricotta (whole or part skim, whatever you prefer)
1 egg
2 tablespoons fresh basil, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 small onion, finely diced
1/2 cup grated parmeggiano reggiano
1 bottle spaghetti sauce, or home-made (simple sauce recipe following) *note, this amount of sauce is just enough to lightly coat the shells, if you prefer your shells smothered or swimming in sauce, you’ll need more.
2 tablespoons oil
Salt and pepper for seasoning

  1. Heat a large pot of water. Once the water boils, add salt and the pasta. Cook until al dente, about 10-12 minutes. The shells will go into the oven to cook some more once stuffed, so if you like your pasta with bite, remove the pasta before it is al dente. Once the pasta is cooked, dump it into a strainer and run under cold water to cool the pasta down. The shells will be easier to stuff if they are at room temperature and not scalding hot.
  2. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. If you are making your own sauce, you can simmer your sauce while you prepare the shells.
  3. Remove sausage meat from the casings. Add 1 tablespoon oil to a medium saucepan over medium heat and brown sausage, constantly turning and separating the chunks using your spatula. Cook until the sausage is fully cooked, about 10 minutes. Transfer cooked sausage to a paper-towel lined plate. Return saucepan to heat, add a bit more oil if needed.
  4. Cook garlic and onion in saucepan until soft, about 3-5 minutes. Add spinach and cook until wilted, about 5-8 minutes. Salt spinach mixture, about 1 teaspoon. Transfer spinach to a colander or strainer and let cool a bit.
  5. Beat 1 egg in a large mixing bowl. Add ricotta (I added about 12 ounces, reserving some for future use in another recipe) and mix with a spoon.
  6. By now the spinach should be a bit cooled, squeeze the excess water out of the spinach and chop the spinach. Add to the ricotta mixture. Then add the sausage, 1/4 cup parmesan, and basil. Add another teaspoon of salt and a teaspoon of pepper. Mix together.
  7. Stuff each shell with about 1-2 tablespoons of filling. Place stuffed shells into a 9x13 pan. I ended up using all the pasta shells and all the filling, which filled up one 9x13 and one 9x9 pan. Pour sauce on top of the shells and cover with remaining parmesan cheese. Bake for additional 15-20 minutes, until cheese is melted and you just can’t wait any longer to eat.

Simple tomato sauce

1 28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes (I love San Marzano)
1 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1/2 small onion, finely diced
1 cup red wine
1 teaspoon dry Italian seasoning
1 tablespoon fresh basil, finely minced

  1. Heat a medium pot over medium heat and add oil. Add the garlic and onion and cook until softened, about 3-5 minutes. Add tomatoes and red wine, and simmer for 20-30 minutes. Add dry seasoning and basil, as well as salt and pepper if needed.
  1. theyellowpage posted this