Spinach and Cheese Stuffed Pasta Shells from Vicki Delany

An oldie but a goodie! I’m sure most people have a stuffed pasta shell recipe in their family. It was something I used to make a lot when I had kids living at home, but it’s been a while. I had most of a container of ricotta in the fridge, as well as some spinach, and was wondering what to do with it when this old favourite popped back into my head. I used jarred spaghetti sauce, but of course you can make your own.

Spinach and Cheese Stuffed Pasta Shells

Ingredients

32 jumbo pasta shells

2 cups ricotta cheese

1 pkg spinach, chopped

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons fennel seed

1 teaspoons fresh basil, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

salt and pepper to taste

3 ½ cups spaghetti sauce

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F 

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Gently place pasta shells in boiling water; return water to a boil. Cook until shells are just tender; drain well.

Put well chopped spinach in a large mixing bowl. Add ricotta, 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, fennel, basil, and garlic. Season with salt and pepper; mix well.

Spread 1/2 cup spaghetti sauce evenly over the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish.

Fill each pasta shell with spinach-cheese mixture. Arrange shells, filling-side up, in the baking dish. Spoon remaining spaghetti sauce over shells. Sprinkle remaining Parmesan cheese on top of shells.

Cover the pan loosely with aluminum foil and bake in the preheated oven until heated through, about 30 minutes.

* As you can see, I didn't have the right sized baking dish, but two smaller ones did fine. 

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