Stuffed Shells

This Stuffed Shells recipe is comfort food at its absolute best! Cheesy pasta shells are stuffed with ricotta, mozzarella, juicy ground beef, and more!

Course Dinner

Cuisine American

Keyword ricotta stuffed shells, stuffed pasta shells, stuffed shells with meat

Prep Time 1 10

Cook Time 20

Total Time 1 30

Servings

Calories 784kcal

Ingredients

For the Sauce:

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup white onion finely chopped
1 pound lean ground beef
pinch of salt and pepper
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 small white onion finely chopped
½ cup bell pepper of choice, finely chopped (red, green, or orange)
4 cloves garlic minced
28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
small can tomato sauce
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon fresh ground pepper
¼ teaspoon dry oregano
pinch of granulated sugar
8 large fresh basil leaves stacked, rolled and thinly sliced (or you chop them)

For the Pasta:

1 box large pasta shells
15 ounce container ricotta cheese
½ cup grated parmesan cheese
1 ½ cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup reserved cooked ground beef
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
1 egg beaten
¼ cup parmesan cheese
1 ½ cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Instructions

Place olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute onions for 3-5 minutes or until softened. Add ground beef, salt and pepper. Cook until browned. Reserve 1 Cup beef for cheese filling. Set aside.
Place olive oil in another large skillet or pot over medium heat. Saute onion, bell peppers, and garlic for 3-5 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, tomato sauce, salt, pepper, oregano, sugar and basil leaves. Reduce heat to low and add beef. Simmer for at least 30 minutes.
Cook pasta shells according to package directions. Drain. I like to lay out a large piece of foil on my counter top, sprayed with cooking spray and lay each shell on the foil. Lightly spray the shells with cooking spray.
Place ricotta, parmesan, mozzarella, beef, salt, pepper and egg in a large bowl. Mix until well combined.
Place a few spoonfuls of meat sauce into the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Spread to coat bottom. Fill each shell with about 2-3 Tablespoons of filling and line in baking dish. Pour remaining sauce over shells. Sprinkle with parmesan then mozzarella Cheese. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until cheese is melted and sauce bubbly.

Notes

Makes 6-8 servings.

Nutrition