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These stuffed shells are saucy, cheesy comfort food at its best! They're filled with a creamy, flavorful mix of fresh spinach, lemon zest, and ricotta cheese.
These are always a comfort food for me, the chewy pasta and creamy filling are a match made in heaven. These are easy to make, amazing for serving a group at a get-together or party as well.
Stuffed Shells Recipe Ingredients
To make this stuffed shells recipe, you’ll need around 10 ingredients, which are all pretty simple ones!
Ingredients
18 to 20 jumbo pasta shells Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling 5 ounces spinach 2 cups (16 ounces) ricotta cheese 1/4 cup grated pecorino cheese, more for sprinkling 2 garlic cloves, grated 1 teaspoon oregano 1 teaspoon lemon zest 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes 3/4 teaspoon sea salt, more for the pasta water freshly ground black pepper 2 cups Marinara Sauce, plus more for serving chopped parsley, for serving
How to Make Stuffed Shells
Stuffed shells are a fairly impressive dish – they’re flavorful, comforting, and ideal for entertaining – but they’re still really simple to make! Before you start mixing up the filling, you’ll need to steam the spinach. When it’s tender and vibrant green, remove it from the heat, place it in a strainer, and squeeze out the excess moisture. Roughly chop it. Then, you can stir it together with the ricotta, pecorino, garlic, lemon zest, oregano, and red pepper flakes to make the filling.
Meanwhile, cook the pasta. It should be justttttt shy being of al dente when you drain it. It’ll finish cooking in the oven!
Then, stuff the shells. The fun part! (And the messy part. ) Use a small spoon to fill each shell with the cheese mixture. Divided evenly, the filling should be enough for 18-20 shells. You can save your extra filling in a ziploc bag!
Next, bake. Spread 2 cups of marinara sauce (or however much your heart desires) at the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish. Nestle in the shells, cover the dish with foil, and bake for 20 minutes at 425°F.
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 425°F.
Place the spinach in a steamer basket and set over a pot with 1-inch of water. Bring the water to a simmer, cover, and let steam for 1 minute, until the spinach is wilted. Transfer to a strainer and squeeze out the excess water and chop the spinach.
In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook the pasta shells for 10 minutes, until al dente. Drain and drizzle with a little olive oil to keep them from sticking together.
In a medium bowl, combine the spinach with the ricotta, pecorino, garlic, oregano, lemon zest, red pepper flakes, salt, and several grinds of pepper.
Spread the marinara in the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. Stuff each shell with the filling and place in the dish. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Serve with more marinara on the side.
(Bee rated the recipe 10/10!)
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-Mimi ❤️
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