One of my very favorite dinners lately has been these Easy Stuffed Shells. There are a couple of reasons for that, one being that they truly are easy to make. In fact, I contemplated starting this post with ‘Easy is my middle name’ but decided that probably wasn’t the best way to begin…
Nevertheless, the easiness of these stuffed shells is one of their most appealing features, in addition to how cheesy and tasty they are. There are really only four steps to this recipe: cook the shells, stuff the shells, smother the shells, then cook the shells again. See? Very simple.
While it does take about an hour to make from start to finish, most of it is not active time. You have about 15 minutes of down time while you wait for your water to boil and the shells to cook, then you spend about 10 minutes actually stuffing and covering them before baking for about 30 minutes. That’s plenty of time to fold a load of laundry, read a chapter of your book, or watch an episode of The Big Bang Theory, all of which are good options.
Other pasta recipes to try: Creamy Lemon Broccoli Rotini // Garlic Parmesan Macaroni and Cheese // Crockpot Chicken Tetrazzini
A note about cheese and marinara sauce. My favorite marinara sauce Bertolli’s Olive Oil and Garlic. If you already have a favorite sauce of your own then definitely stick with it, but if you are the hunt for a good one then give this one a try. It’s the only one I’ve found that isn’t too sweet, oily, or chunky for my personal taste.
As for cheese, if you have an extra minute to grate it fresh from a block, do it! It’s sooooo good. But also know that 4 out of 5 times I just use pre-shredded from a bag because usually that extra 5 minutes just feels like too much at the end of a long day.
- 30 jumbo shells
- 15 oz ricotta cheese
- 3 tbsp sour cream
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 24 oz jar marinara sauce
- 3 cups shredded mozzarella
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Preheat oven to 350°. Spray a 9×13 casserole dish with nonstick spray and set aside.
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Boil water in a medium sized pot and cook shells for about 12 minutes. You want them to be slightly al dente because they will cook a little more when you bake them.
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When the shells are cooked, drain well and place them in the casserole dish to cool for about 5 minutes, so that you are able to handle them without burning your hands. In the meantime, use a small bowl to mix together the ricotta, sour cream, salt, and garlic powder.
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Use a spoon to fill each shell with the ricotta mixture, replacing them in the casserole dish as you fill. When all the shells have filling in them, pour the jar of marinara evenly over them and top with the mozzarella.
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Bake for about 30 minutes, until the sauce bubbles and the cheese is melted. Cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, then serve.
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