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Makeover Easy Beef-Stuffed Shells Recipe

Makeover Easy Beef-Stuffed Shells Recipe photo by Taste of Home

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Enjoy the convenience of this make-ahead dish or bake right away. Either way, it has half the saturated fat of the original recipe but is just as meaty. —Blair Lonergan, Rochelle, Virginia

This recipe is:

Healthy

Diabetic Friendly

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Makeover Easy Beef-Stuffed Shells Recipe

Prep: 45 min. + chilling Bake: 45 min.

Yield: 10 Servings

45 45 90

Ingredients

20 uncooked jumbo pasta shells
1 pound lean ground beef (90% lean)
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With Johnsonville Italian Sausage.
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1 large onion, chopped
1 medium green pepper, chopped
1-1/4 cups reduced-fat ricotta cheese
1-1/2 cups (6 ounces) shredded reduced-fat Italian cheese blend, divided
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup prepared pesto
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 can (14-1/2 ounces) Italian diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can (8 ounces) no-salt-added tomato sauce
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

Directions

Cook pasta according to package directions to al dente; drain and rinse in cold water. In a large skillet, cook the beef, onion and green pepper over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. In a large bowl, combine the ricotta cheese, 1 cup Italian cheese blend, Parmesan cheese, pesto, egg and half of the beef mixture.
In a small bowl, combine the tomatoes, tomato sauce and Italian seasoning. Spread 3/4 cup into a 13-in x 9-in. baking dish coated with cooking spray. Spoon cheese mixture into pasta shells; place in baking dish. Combine remaining beef mixture and tomato mixture; spoon over shells. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Cover and bake at 350° for 40 minutes. Uncover; bake 5-10 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Yield: 10 servings.

Nutritional Facts 2 stuffed shells equals 295 calories, 12 g fat (5 g saturated fat), 70 mg cholesterol, 436 mg sodium, 23 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 22 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 3 lean meat, 1-1/2 starch, 1 fat.

Originally published as Makeover Easy Beef-Stuffed Shells in Healthy Cooking February/March 2012, p27

Full-Bodied Red Wine

Enjoy this recipe with a full-bodied red wine such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot or Syrah.

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Reviews for Makeover Easy Beef-Stuffed Shells

Makeover Easy Beef-Stuffed Shells

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Reviewed on May. 19, 2012 by auburnsky

I found this recipe to be easy and delicious! I've made it twice now with rave reviews.

Reviewed on Mar. 24, 2012 by ahmom

This was really good but was missing something. Perhaps garlic.

I think I'll caramelize the onions the next time.

Reviewed on Mar. 08, 2012 by birdie425

Delicious and easy and best of all, my 2 year old loves it! I use ground turkey instead of beef because I prefer it, and it turns out great!

Reviewed on Mar. 08, 2012 by lovestocook1949

This looks delicious. Do you think it would work with small shells mixed in like a baked casserole? My young grandson loves pasta but, I'm not sure about the big shells.

Reviewed on Feb. 29, 2012 by Voluptuosa

Sorry one more thing...I thought at first 20 shells wasnt really alot..There are 3 of us eating at the moment instead of 4... 20 were PLENTY with all the meat and stuffing in the recipe. :)

Reviewed on Feb. 29, 2012 by Voluptuosa

Both my kids gave me A plus on the dish and requested me to make copies for the cookbooks Im making them using 3 ring binders. As someone pointed out it dirtied up a few dishes, but was worth it! I clean as I go so everything rinsed and got put in the dishwasher. I uesd diced tomatoes that had mild green chilies in them, but you couldnt really tell. Will DEFINATLEY make again!!

Reviewed on Feb. 27, 2012 by Cathy Radmann

My family loved this recipe, although my son (9) doesn't like "chunky" tomatoes. So next time will use a no-sugar-no-salt tomatoe sauce instead of the diced tomatoes. Very flavorful!

Reviewed on Feb. 15, 2012 by msylvia923

It was a little time consuming, as most stuffed shells are to make, but was very delicious. I will definitely make this again.

Reviewed on Feb. 14, 2012 by KWhitehead

Delicious, but I don't know that I would classify it as easy. I have some other healthy stuffed shell recipes that are far easier. This dirtied up a number of pans and took quite a while to put together. I do think it was delicious enough to warrant all of the work...I just don't think it was easy. :)

Reviewed on Jan. 16, 2012 by living4fridays

I was skeptical of this recipe and what the taste would be.... so skeptical that I prepared a "back up" dish tonight in anticipation that this wouldn't be very savory. I was so wrong! Followed the directions as written and even my husband gave this recipe two thumbs up. The look of the diced tomatoes (I prefer home canned vs. commercially canned) screamed "bland" to my eyes, but my taste buds overruled. Highly recommend!