Three Cheese Stuffed Shells

A rich, savory comfort food meal

Course dinner, Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Keyword comfort food, Italian dinner, stuffed shells

Prep Time 35 minutes

Cook Time 35 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes

Servings 6 servings

Ingredients

Note: you will need at least a 12" skillet if you want to bake this recipe in the pan. If you don't have a big enough pan, you can cook the sauce in a pan, pour into a baking dish and make the rest of the recipe as instruted.

12 ounces large pasta shells
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 pound Italian sausage (you can use spicy or mild, or a combo of the two, it's up to you)
2 28 ounce cans of crushed tomatoes
2 teaspoons dried oregano
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
16 ounces whole milk ricotta
2 cups grated mozzarella
1/2 fresh basil leaves, chopped
zest of one lemon
8 ounces frozen chopped spinach, thawed with water squeezed out
2 cups shaved Parmesan

Instructions

Tip: I placed the prep of the ingredients throughout the recipe because it's a time saver. If this overwhelms you, feel free to prep all ingredients before starting.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place oven rack in center position
Place a large pot of salted water on high heat. Cook pasta shells to package instructions, drain well and rinse with cold water. While you wait for water to boil and pasta to cook, prepare sauce.
Place pan on medium heat for two minutes. Add olive oil, when it shimmers, add sausage to pan. Cook for 7-8 minutes breaking it up with a spatula. Now it's time to prep your garlic.
When sausage has cooked for 8 minutes, add crushed tomatoes, oregano, red pepper flakes, garlic and a couple of generous pinches of sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste. Stir, then let simmer on low heat for 15 minutes.
While sauce simmers, chop basil, zest lemon with a microplane, and place spinach in a colander and press with a paper towel until excess water is removed. In a bowl mix together ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese, chopped basil and lemon zest. Stir, add some kosher salt, to taste and stir again. Set aside.
When sauce has simmered for 15 minutes, turn off heat. Add spinach to sauce and stir well.
Gently unfold shells and spoon about 1 1/2 tablespoons of ricotta mixture into each shell, place them in the pan on top of sauce. When you have used all the shells, sprinkle them with shaved parmesan, making sure they are covered well with cheese.
Transfer pan to oven and bake for 35 minutes. Remove from oven, allow to cool for five minutes. Serve. Tip: I usually place a cooking sheet on the oven rack below to catch any sauce drips that happen when sauce simmers.