Ingredients
- 1 pound bulk Italian sausage
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 1 package (10 ounces) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
- 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, cubed
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- 2 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided
- 2 cups 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
Reviews
I have made these shells a lot of times. My family loves them. In fact, my mom wants these for her birthday this year. I do use Johnsonville ground sweet Italian sausage in the recipe. Sometimes I use the hot sausage as well. Everything else stays the same. Great recipe, wonderful taste!
These shell are delightfully cheesy and tasty!!
I didn't cook my pasta shells so long since everything was really only warming in the oven. The other reason I didn't cook them so long was because I took the wonderful idea in a review here and began sending the shells to shut-ins or people I know don't cook for themselves much. Since I knew they would have to rewarm them, I didn't want them overcooked.
These shells were absolutely amazing! I omitted the sausage as I was serving them as a side dish, but I also ate the leftovers as a meatless main later in the week and they were equally as good when starring as the main dish. I'm positive these will be equally delicious with the sausage added! My significant other couldn't stop popping shells, he was addicted!
Oh, this is one of our family's favorite recipes! The only change I make is to use a 28 oz. jar of Ragu spaghetti sauce since I'm usually in a hurry to get supper on the table. We love the cheesiness (is that a word?) with the pasta shells & sauce. A little taste of heaven! :)
I have been making this since it first appeared in your magazine, which I believe was 1995! I am preparing it now to take to a shut in. This has become my main dish for people recovering from illness or injury. EVERYONE who I have made it for simply loves it. It is easy to transport and easy for them to reheat. We have a garden and I can my own spaghetti sauce which I use instead of preparing the one in the recipe. Thanks for a keeper.
This is amazing!
I didn't add the spinach or the cottage cheese. This was AWESOME!! Love the creamy taste of the cream cheese in there. Wish I could give it more stars! :)
This recipe is SO, SO GOOD! Doesn't need tweaking or anything!!
This is as good as everybody said it was. Only change I made was I used turkey sausage, otherwise didn't change a thing and it was great.