Cheese-Stuffed Shells Recipe

Cheese-Stuffed Shells Recipe Cheese-Stuffed Shells Recipe photo by Taste of Home Rating 5

When I was living in California, I tasted this rich cheesy pasta dish at a neighborhood Italian restaurant. I got the recipe and made a few changes to it in my own kitchen. I'm happy to share it with you. —Lori Mecca, Grants Pass, Oregon

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Cheese-Stuffed Shells Recipe
  • Prep: 35 min. Bake: 50 min.
  • Yield: 12 Servings
35 50 85

Ingredients

  • 1 pound bulk Johnsonville® Ground Sausage
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 1 package (10 ounces) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
  • 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, cubed
  • 1 egg, lightly beaten
  • 2 cups (8 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided
  • 2 cups (8 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese
  • 1 cup 4% cottage cheese
  • 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon, optional
  • 24 jumbo pasta shells, cooked and drained
  • SAUCE:
  • 1 can (29 ounces) tomato sauce
  • 1 tablespoon dried minced onion
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons dried basil
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons dried parsley flakes
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions

  • In a large skillet, cook sausage and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Transfer to a large bowl. Stir in the spinach, cream cheese and egg. Add 1 cup mozzarella cheese, cheddar cheese, cottage cheese, Parmesan cheese, salt, pepper and cinnamon if desired.
  • Stuff pasta shells with sausage mixture. Arrange in two 11-in. x 7-in. baking dishes coated with cooking spray. Combine the sauce ingredients; spoon over shells.
  • Cover and bake at 350° for 45 minutes. Uncover; sprinkle with remaining mozzarella. Bake 5-10 minutes longer or until bubbly and cheese is melted. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving. Yield: 12 servings.

Nutritional Facts 2 stuffed shells equals 397 calories, 23 g fat (14 g saturated fat), 94 mg cholesterol, 1,097 mg sodium, 24 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 24 g protein.

Originally published as Cheese-Stuffed Shells in Taste of Home April/May 1995, p25

Full-Bodied White Wine

Enjoy this recipe with a full-bodied white wine such as Chardonnay or Viognier.

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Reviews for Cheese-Stuffed Shells

Cheese-Stuffed Shells Recipe

Cheese-Stuffed Shells

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(21-30) of 74 reviews

Reviewed on Aug. 09, 2011 by annej9683

Made this tonight and it was great! followed recipe exactly minus the cinnamon and it was a hit with my slightly picky boyfriend. Will be making this again I am certain of it.

Reviewed on Aug. 07, 2011 by Arloween

One grandfather got off the boat from Ireland. One great grandfather came out west by covered wagon. I can cook and I am concerned about my grandson who thinks cinnamon too spicy (4yr) and spinach (yuk). So I will leave out the cinnamon and leave out spinach in his shell. It sounds great. Thanks to generations of cooks!

Reviewed on Aug. 07, 2011 by Arloween

If you have a kid who does not like spinach what do you substitute with? Anything?

Reviewed on Aug. 03, 2011 by Femminapsicotic

Love these! I was able to fit a lot in each shell and filled 24 shells! I did make a few changes though, we aren't real big on italian sausage so I used lean ground meat (92% lean) and I also used skim ricotta instead of the cottage cheese. Loved it and plan on making this for my daughter's birthday party to share how delicious they are!

Reviewed on Aug. 01, 2011 by blue_eyes998

FYI, if you want this to fit into 24 shells, just use a mounding soup-spoonful to stuff the shells. They will look monstrous, but be delicious. You could easily fill twice as many if you put a smaller amount in each shell. I fit all 24 extremely stuffed shells in my 9x13 pan, which was a tight squeeze but worked well. Next time I make this, I think I'll half the cheese because, though delicious, it will cut down on the cost, and since there are only 2 of us, won't be a problem in not filling us up. As it was, my husband and I each ate 3 shells and were full, so I refrigerated 6 and happily froze the other 12 for two different dinners-for-two in the future.

Reviewed on Jun. 28, 2011 by reurink2006

My family loves this receipe. It is so easy to make and double if you need to double

Reviewed on Jun. 26, 2011 by tcarver

I love this recipe. Very tasty.. Easy to do..

Reviewed on Jun. 14, 2011 by kstone11

There were a few things I didn't have on hand so I made some substitutions. Overall, the flavor was good. The cinnamon was a nice surprise. I used ricotta instead of cottage cheese and only had about half of the cream cheese needed. I used hot italian sausage because that was all I had. I think I would have liked it better if I had used regular italian sausage, like called for.

Reviewed on Jun. 09, 2011 by PsychiatricRN

Made this exactly as recipe stated...It was wonderful....everyone loved it!

Reviewed on May. 23, 2011 by barbquartier

Absolutely wonderful - and my husband is not a big fan of Italian food...but he said it was an excellent supper. The recipe says 24 shells, but I stuffed 30...and thought I was overstuffing them! Will definitely make this again. Took the 2nd pan over to my husband's daughter's and they loved it too!

 
 

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