Light Stuffed Pasta Shells Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. Combine cheeses and spinach; stuff into shells. Arrange in a greased 13x9-in. baking dish. Pour spaghetti sauce over the shells. Cover and bake until heated through, about 30 minutes. If desired, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese after baking.

Steps:

• Brown ground beef and drain. Return to pan.Saute onions and garlic in pan with cooked meat for approximately 3 minutes. Set aside.
• Boil salted water to cook the pasta shells according to package al dente style. Strain and set aside.
• In a large bowl, mix ricotta, parmasan, and 2/3 package of shredded mozzarella. Add italian seasoning, garlic pepper, eggs and milk and mix thoroughly. Mix in meat and spinach.
• In a large baking dish, pour enough sauce to cover the bottom of the pan lightly. Fill each shell with large rounded tablespoons of meat and cheese mixture, and place in pan. Be sure to closely place the shells together so they don't get hard while baking.
• *If there are too many shells for one pan, make a secong and store tightly covered in freezer until later use.
• Pour remaining sauce evenly over all of the shells. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella cheese. Cover tightly with aluminum foil, and bake at 375 for 35-45 minutes. Take foil off pan, and bake additional 10 minutes.

Steps:

• Cook pasta shells according to package directions; rinse and drain well.
• Meanwhile in a medium saucepan combine the onion,pepper,bouillon granules, and water; bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes or until the onion is tender.
• Stir in undrained tomatoes and tomato paste; simmer for 10 minutes and remove from heat.
• Set aside 1/3 cup of the tomato mixture for the filling.
• For the chicken filling, mix the chicken,mushrooms,paprika, and pepper.
• Add the reserved tomato sauce and mix well.
• Spray a 12X71/2X2 inch baking dish with cooking spray.
• Stuff the pasta shells with chicken filling, using about 2 1/2 tablespoons filling per shell.
• Place filled pasta in dish; pour remaining tomato mixture on top.
• Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 20-25 minutes, or until heated through.
• Sprinkle parmesan cheese on top and continue baking for 5 minutes more.
• Remove from oven and serve.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 2-quart casserole dish with 1 teaspoon of olive oil.
• Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Add 1 teaspoon of the salt and the pasta shells, and cook until al dente, 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally with a long-handled spoon to prevent the shells from sticking together. Drain and rinse under cold running water. Drain.
• In a medium skillet, heat the remaining tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic and cook, stirring, until very soft, 6 to 7 minutes. Add the ground veal and cook, stirring, until cooked and browned. Add the squeezed spinach and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and season with salt and pepper.
• In a large bowl, combine the ricotta cheese, eggs, Parmesan cheese, and 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese. Add the spinach mixture, the extra-virgin olive oil, Essence, remaining teaspoon of salt, the basil, oregano, and pepper, and stir to combine thoroughly. Spoon about 2 tablespoons of the spinach-ricotta filling into each cooked pasta shell. Place the filled shells in the prepared dish.
• Pour the Basic Red Sauce over the filled shells and top with the remaining 1 cup of mozzarella cheese. Bake, uncovered, until bubbly, about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes before serving.
• Combine all ingredients thoroughly and store in an airtight jar or container.
• Recipe from "New New Orleans Cooking", by Emeril Lagasse and Jessie Tirsch. Published by William and Morrow, 1993.
• In a medium pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, salt, basil, oregano, and pepper, and cook, stirring, until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, water, and sugar and stir well. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Lower the heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, until thickened and fragrant, 25 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Remove from the heat and keep warm until ready to use.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
• In a large bowl, mix eggs, ricotta, half the mozzarella, half the Parmesan, parsley, salt and pepper until well combined. Stuff cooked shells with ricotta mixture and place in a 9x13 inch baking dish.
• In a medium bowl, stir together pasta sauce, mushrooms and reserved mozzarella and Parmesan. Pour over stuffed shells.
• Bake in preheated oven 45 to 60 minutes, until edges are bubbly and shells are slightly set.

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook pasta shells in boiling water, stirring occasionally, until cooked through but firm to the bite, about 8 minutes; drain.
• Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook and stir mushrooms and garlic in hot oil until mushrooms are soft, about 7 minutes. Stir spinach and thyme into the mushroom mixture; season with salt and pepper. Cook and stir the mixture until the spinach wilts. Remove the skillet from heat and drain any excess liquid; transfer drained mixture to a large bowl.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Mix ricotta cheese, 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese, and 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese with the spinach mixture; season again with salt and pepper and stuff into pasta shells.
• Arrange stuffed shells into a 9x11-inch baking dish. Pour pasta sauce over the shells; top with 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese.
• Bake in preheated oven until the cheese is melted and the shells are hot, about 30 minutes.

Steps:

• Make the sauce: In a large Dutch oven or pot, heat the olive oil over medium. Add the onion and a pinch of salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the garlic and tomato paste and cook, stirring frequently, until the paste turns one shade darker, about 2 minutes. Stir in the tomato purée, season with salt, then bring to a simmer. Cover halfway to reduce splattering, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has thickened slightly, 20 to 30 minutes.
• Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
• Make the filling: In a medium bowl, combine the ricotta with 1 1/2 cups mozzarella, 1 cup Parmesan and the egg yolks. Grate the garlic directly into the bowl, then season with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Stir to combine, then set aside.
• Add the shells to the boiling water and cook until just shy of al dente. (You'll want to cook the shells about 2 minutes less than the minimum time listed on the package, as the shells will continue to cook in the oven in Step 5.) Reserve 1/2 cup pasta water, then drain the pasta and rinse it under cold water to cool. Count out 24 shells. (You will have cooked off more shells than will fit in the dish; that's insurance in case any rip. Reserve extras for another use.)
• Stir the pasta water into the sauce, then add half the sauce to a 3-quart/9-by-13-inch baking dish and spread it in an even layer. Spoon about 2 tablespoons filling into each of the 24 shells, lining up the stuffed shells in the dish as you go. Spoon the remaining sauce over the shells, then sprinkle with the remaining 1 cup mozzarella and 1 cup Parmesan.
• Cover the dish tightly with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake, uncovered, until the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbling, 15 to 20 minutes. (If you'd like to brown the cheese, you can broil for a few minutes.) Let sit 5 minutes, then serve.