Stuffed Pasta Shells

During cross country season in high school, the team would come together for potluck pasta nights before a race. I remember one time my mom brought stuffed pasta shells and it was a big hit. Even though this Stuffed Pasta Shell recipe from the Pioneer Woman is not my mom’s recipe, it was just as good!

I do not know about your kitchens, but my stove takes forever to boil a pot of water. I recommend to start boiling your water before you do anything else. While I waited for my water to boil, I made the ricotta mixture, which is made of ricotta, parmesan cheese, parsley, basil, egg, and salt and pepper. Instead of using two types of cheeses, I did 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese for the ricotta mixture and the rest for the top of the pasta. In the recipe, it asks for you to cut the basil into chiffonade. To do this, you pile all of the basil leaves one on top of the other. Then tightly roll the leaves and cut on a diagonal into small strips of basil. This makes the basil into long, thin pieces. Set the ricotta mixture aside.

When boiling the pasta, make sure to only cook the pasta shells for half the cooking time specified on the box. Drain the pasta shells and cool under cold water. 

Pour some of the pasta sauce onto the bottom of the baking dish. Take a pasta shell in your hand and spoon some of the ricotta mixture into the pasta shell. I placed my shells face up in the baking dish. Once all of the shells are in the baking dish, pour the rest of the pasta sauce over the shells and sprinkle with the cheeses. Bake for 25 minutes or until hot and bubbly. 

While stuffed pasta shells have similar ingredients as a lasagna, the ricotta mixture in these shells is sweeter and creamier. When the ricotta mixture combined with the pasta sauce, it created more of a pink sauce, which is one of my favorite pasta sauces. Enjoy!