Stuffed Pasta Shells for Meat-Lovers

Name: Stuffed Pasta Shells for Meat-Lovers
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 55 min
Total time: 1 h 20 min
Yield: 8-12 serving(s)
Ingredients: 2 1/2 lbs ground beef; 2 (12 ounce) boxes jumbo pasta shells; 1 (26 ounce) jar Prego spaghetti sauce, any variety; 1 (8 ounce) box frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed of excess juice; 2 cups ricotta cheese; 1 lb of shredded mozzarella cheese; 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese; 2 garlic cloves, minced; 1 small yellow onion, finely chopped; 5 tablespoons italian seasoning; 1 tablespoon garlic pepper seasoning; 4 eggs, slightly beaten; 1/3 cup milk

Submitted by Jessika6958

"These are quite possible the best you can make! I came up with this recipe to satisfy my carnivorous family and incorporate my love for Italian food. These have a ton of meat, but still a nice amount of the traditional ricotta cheese and spinach. These can also be great appetizer, due to the large amount the recipe yields."

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photo by Ashley Cuoco

Ready In:: 1hr 20mins
Ingredients:: 13
Serves:: 8-12

ingredients

2 ¹⁄₂ lbs ground beef
2 (12 ounce) boxes jumbo pasta shells
1 (26 ounce) jar Prego spaghetti sauce, any variety
1 (8 ounce) box frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed of excess juice
2 cups ricotta cheese
1 lb of shredded mozzarella cheese
¹⁄₂ cup grated parmesan cheese
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
5 tablespoons italian seasoning
1 tablespoon garlic pepper seasoning
4 eggs, slightly beaten
¹⁄₃ cup milk

directions

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.

Questions & Replies

H

We don’t like ricotta cheese. Could that be replaced with cottage cheese?

hlsirowy
R

I used to get really humongous shells, but now all you can find are the jumbo ones which aren't nearly as big. Does anyone still make the really big ones? Thanks

rlandre
M

Can i use just a pound n half ground beef

Michelle P.

Reviews

T

I will be tryin these but I will only use 1 sauce, my own home made #106003. I have not used any store bought sauce since 1986. Update to follow! 10-15-2008 Ok update 10-16-2008. If you like something good and easy to fix, here you go! I made a few changes but stayed pretty close to the basic recipe. First I cut the recipe in half, when is says 8-12 servings, she is not kidding. I used regular chunky cottage cheese and used plain yogart instead of milk, a little more than 1/2 cup. I sliced a tomato across the top of the shells to keep the moisture in the shells, then added the mozzarella and more parmesan cheese, returned to the oven to melt the cheese. It turned out very moist! I baked it in a convection oven at 350 for 50 minutes, came out fantastic. Excellent taste.! Thank you for the post!

Tim_John
T
Family loved it!! Added extra cheese on top, because we love cheese!!!
Tiffany B.
D
This makes a HUGE amount. I had THREE trays of them when I got done. As for a couple of tweaks, I didn't uncover the dish and bake the additional 10 minutes, because I wanted my pasta to remain al dente. Also, use 2lbs ground beef, and 1/2 sweet italian sausage. Turned out AWESOME.
Dennis H.
M

This does make a huge amount! Turned out delicious though, and there's a lot of room to experiment with sauces and spices. I ran out of italiano cheeses, so I used old cheddar on my second pan, and since I was feeding a group of "growing boys" both pans were demolished. Everyone seemed to like the cheddar topping better, so definitely play around with your cheeses too. Excellent!

Michaels Chef
O

This is just great. Yes, it makes way too much, but freezes quite well and I am on my third,[and last], thawed meal serving for three folks. Not only great tasting, but frugal, considering the meals you can get out of it.

oxyk8441

see 11 more reviews

Tweaks

T

Added lots of extra cheese on top!!

Tiffany B.
A

Didn’t have much ricotta on hand, so as recommended by another user I used cream cheese instead. Also blended the meat and enjoyed the texture it gave the filling. I used a piping bag to speed up the filling as I made a full batch.

annemarie
D

I blended the meat in the food processor prior to adding it to the cheese. It ended up turning out exactly like the local Italian restaurants meat ravioli and stuffed shells.

Dschulz0429
D

Didn't cook uncovered the final 10 minutes, to keep the pasta tender. Added 1/2lb sweet italian sausage.

Dennis H.
K

I made these for my friend and me, and he doesn't like ricotta cheese, so I replaced it with a package of cream cheese and it turned out fantastic. I feel that unless you have parmesan cheese on hand already, it's more of an optional item as well.

Kjten Enwood