Today we will turn our attention to creating a hearty Italian staple stuffed full of delicious spinach and ricotta, along with several other Italian cheeses, to create a homemade feast for all to enjoy. Though it may sound somewhat daunting, this recipe is straightforward and simple enough for even a beginner cook to pull off and make the entire family happy and ready to slip into a food coma after dinner. You can make everything entirely from scratch, or cut a few corners and use a few premade supplies from the grocery store, but either way you will end up satisfied and ready to manipulate this recipe to your own liking and tastes. Stick around like a cooked pasta noodle on the wall and give this spinach and ricotta stuffed shells recipe a try. Let's get cooking, shall we?
You can't have stuffed shells without the shells themselves so begin by cooking some large pasta shells for about 8 minutes in some boiling water with Kosher salt. You just want to get them to soften up enough to spread and stuff at this point since they will be getting into a warm cozy marinara bath and baking later. Overcook them now and things will just end up sloppy and unappealing so really try and limit their hot water sauna to maximum of 8 minutes. Once cooked al dente, drain and rinse with some cold water to stop any further cooking. The shells can be set aside for now while we prepare the stuffing itself.
In a large pan, heat some olive oil over medium to medium-high heat. Toss in a couple tablespoons of garlic and saute until that delicious fragrant aroma begins to fill your kitchen. Now it turns out that 1 packed cup of fresh spinach is about an ounce so whether you want to weigh it or try to eyeball it, rough chop the spinach and toss it in the hot oil and garlic. Saute this for 3-4 minutes until the spinach is cooked down, but still a bright green color. A full pan of spinach will reduce down to about a 1/4-1/2 cup. Remove the spinach from the heat and let it cool a bit.
In a separate large mixing bowl, add the ricotta cheese, grated parmesan, Italian cheese blend of your choice, and an egg. Stir to combine these ingredients well and add a pinch or so of salt and pepper if you wish. Once the spinach is slightly cooled off, add it to this mixture and stir to combine. This is what we will be stuffing our pasta shells with shortly. You can put it into a ziplock bag and cut the corner to pipe the mixture or simply spoon it in as I chose to keep it simple as possible.
At this point, you are going to want to set up a 3 piece station of sorts, like you would for breading chicken or pork. On the far left, place your drained shells so they are easy to grab. Put your spinach and cheese filling mixture in the middle and on the far right place a large baking tray to place your stuffed shells as you fill each one. Before you start stuffing any shells, grab a couple ladles of your own marinara sauce, a store bought sauce, or my personal favorite, this simple roasted garlic marinara that can be made ahead of time, and coat the bottom of your baking pan to prevent any shells burning or getting stuck to the tray. Since we are doing a meatless filling, you could substitute the marinara for a beef bolognese sauce if you want to up your protein amounts in this recipe.
Now comes the tedious task of stuffing each shell with a couple tablespoons of spinach and cheese and filling your baking tray a full single layer, about 21-24 fully stuffed shells. Repeat the process till you begin to regret making this recipe and eventually, eventually the tray will fill up and we can reach back for some more sauce to cover all the shells. You can go heavy or light with the extra sauce as you or your family prefers, but at least try to get a basic 90% coverage to keep the pasta shells from burning during the baking process. You will almost undoubtedly end up with extra shells and filling so enjoy a bonus smaller tray of stuffed shells for a few extra leftovers!
Cover your shells and tray with a sheet of aluminum foil and toss it in an oven at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for about 25 minutes. After your timer goes off, uncover the shells and continue baking an additional 20 minutes till the sauce and everything is bubbling and looking like a tasty volcanic lava field of deliciousness!
Time to feast like Italian royalty! Scoop out 2-3 shells per person as a serving size and top with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese. Get extra fancy and add some fresh basil if you really want to color things up and make it look pretty before you devour it like some beast of a human. The cheese should be melty and messy and gooey and amazing so you might want to let it cool just a couple minutes or risk burning your mouth, but definitely get in there while it's hot and tasty! Bon Appetit!
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