Stuffed Pasta Shells

Submitted by Carrie Ann

"This is one of the nicest pasta dishes I've ever eaten.The balance of the ingredients allow all the flavours to come through without any singular one dominating .This is a favourite that I am repeatedly asked to bring to buffet dinners."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 25mins
• Ingredients: 12
• Serves: 5

ingredients

• 1 lb ground beef
• 2 cups ricotta cheese
• 1⁄2 cup fresh parmesan cheese, grated
• 1 1⁄2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1⁄4 finely chopped onion
• 1⁄2 clove garlic, minced
• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1⁄2 tablespoon fresh basil or 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 3 eggs
• 20 jumbo pasta shells
• 1 jar prego spaghetti sauce

directions

1. Brown beef in frying pan;add onion and garlic and cook until onion is tender.
2. Drain, add salt and set aside to cool.
3. Mix together parsley, basil, ricotta and parmesan.
4. Mix well.
5. Add beef and eggs; mix well.
6. Cook pasta shells according to package directions.
7. Rinse under cold water and drain.
8. Stuff shells with beef mixture and place in a baking dish.
9. Pour sauce evenly over shells and sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.
10. Bake, covered, at 350 for 50 to 60 minutes.

Reviews

[Fauve]

My family loves cheesy Italian meals. This tasty dish is now everyone's standing Italian favorite. I even used a very cheap portion of ground beef, and instead of Prego, used a less costly brand of spaghetti sauce, and this still turned out beautifully! Luckily, this made more than 20 shells for me...more like 30. Thanks, Carrie Ann, for a spectacular recipe!

 

[Manda]

My family REALLY enjoyed this dish! I used cottage cheese instead of the ricotta becoause no-one in my family really cares for ricotta. A very nice alternative to just the cheese filled shells. Served with garlic bread and a green salad. Lovely Sunday dinner. Thank you for posting! ~Manda

 

[lureal]

I just pulled this out of the oven. I'll be using this recipe as a base in the future but it is dry and needs more seasoning for my taste and I had already added extra garlic powder and onion powder because I like my Italian zesty. Also my cheese did brown and harden but I'd already had it in the oven when I read one reviewer's comments with having a similar experience. I'll take their advice and add the cheese half way through. I only had to keep mine in the oven for 40 minutes. Otherwise the cheese would have been super dark and the sauce even dryer. Thanks for sharing! It is a good base and I'm going to use it but add more sauce, less time, and later cheese. Love adding the meat to inside the shells instead of just the sauce. The filling itself is hardy. I just think this is one everyone needs to tweak based on their ovens and preferences. I did bookmark this :)

 

[LonghornMama]

Good! Easy enough for a weeknight meal and perfect with a green salad. The beef made for a hearty meal that kept my oldest boy happy. I used 24 shells and Muir Glen sauce. Thanks for sharing the recipe!

 

[Olive]

This tasted delicious and we really enjoyed it. It made for a nice change from other pasta meals. I made my own sauce and served it with garlic bread and a salad. Thanks for posting!