Stuffed Pasta Shell Bake
Stuffed Pasta Shell Bake
Serves:
4 People
Cooking Time:
30 Minutes
Ingredients
- 18 jumbo pasta shells
- 1 ¼ cups ricotta cheese
- 3 cups packed fresh spinach
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- ⅛ tsp salt and pepper
- ¼ cup parsley chopped and loosely packed
- ¼ cup basil chopped and loosely packed
- ¼ diced onion
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese shredded
- ¼ cup parmesan cheese
- 2 cups pasta sauce
- ¼ cup heavy cream
Instructions
- Bring a large pot filled ¾ full of water to a boil. Add in ½ tbsp of salt and the pasta shells. Stir and let cook as per the instruction on the box. Approx 10-12 minutes. Don’t overcook the pasta noodles or they will fall apart.
- While pasta is cooking. Saute onions and garlic in a frying pan for 1 minute. Then add in fresh spinach, basil, parsley, dried oregano, salt, and pepper. Saute for 5 minutes stirring constantly until spinach liquid is mostly evaporated.
- Drain pasta shells and run them under cold water until cold to touch. Set aside.
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- In medium bowl mix ricotta cheese, Parmesan, ½ cup mozzarella, and spinach mixture with a spoon.
- Fill an oven-safe dish ( I used a 9 inch cast iron pan) with 1 cup of pasta sauce and ¼ cup of cream and mix well. Stuff pasta shells with the spinach ricotta filling and place side by side on top of the tomato cream sauce.
- Once all pasta shells are stuffed and lined in your baking dish. Top with 1 more cup of pasta sauce and sprinkle with another ½ cup of shredded cheese.
- Then bake in the oven for 30 minutes. Until sauce is bubbling and the cheese is melted.
