Sausage & Spinach Stuffed Shells
Yields: 18 shells
Jumbo pasta shells stuffed with a mix of ricotta, mozzarella, and spinach that's topped with crumbled sausage and cheese and baked on a bed of pasta sauce.
Ingredients
- 18 jumbo shells, see recipe notes
- 1/2 pound ground sausage
- 2 cup ricotta
- 2 egg
- 1 tablespoon oregano, fresh and chopped
- 1/2 cup frozen spinach, thawed, rinsed, and drained
- 2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded and divided
- 23 ounce Ragu Homestyle Thick & Hearty Four Cheese sauce, (1 jar)
- 1 tablespoon parsley, fresh and chopped (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 360 F. Spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray, then set aside.
- In a large stockpot, cook jumbo pasta shells to just shy of al dente (see recipe notes about shells). Place cooked pasta in a large bowl and add a splash of cool water (to keep pasta moist and stop cooking process). Cover bowl with a towel and set aside.
- While pasta cooks, add sausage to a large skillet and brown & crumble over medium-high heat. Drain sausage and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk ricotta and eggs together until smooth. Add garlic powder, oregano, spinach, 1 cup mozzarella cheese, and 1/2 cup parmesan cheese to bowl and stir together until thoroughly combined.
- Pour Ragu Homestyle Thick & Hearty Four Cheese sauce in prepared baking dish, smoothing out to completely cover the bottom of the dish.
- To fill the shells: Cup a jumbo shell in your weaker hand, facing the shell so that the tighter curl of the shell is close to your thumb and the looser part rests along your fingers (or palm - whichever is most comfortable). Use your thumb to pry open the shell, then scoop in the ricotta cheese mix with a spoon or a spatula. Each shell can hold about 3 tablespoons to 1/4 cup of filling. When shell is full, place it on top of the marinara sauce, seam side up.
- Sprinkle cooked sausage on top of stuffed shells, then top with remaining 1/2 cup parmesan cheese and 1 cup mozzarella cheese.
- Cover baking dish with aluminum foil and bake for 30-45 minutes or until cheese is completely melted and sauce is bubbly.
- Serve immediately with parsley as garnish (optional).
Notes
Jumbo shells have a tendency to tear while cooking. Sometimes this happens because the jumbo shell has a weak seam and sometimes the shells just break while stirring. To avoid problems with this I always cook anywhere from 3-5 extra shells so that I'll always have backups should a shell fall apart. You might end up wasting a few shells this way, but I've found this is better than running the risk of not having enough for the recipe.