Italian Stuffed Shells
A dear friend first brought over this stuffed shells recipe. Now I take it to other friends' homes and to potlucks, because it's always a big hit! —Beverly Austin, Fulton, Missouri
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 2 cups hot water
- 1 can (12 ounces) tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon beef bouillon granules
- 1-1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- 2 cups 4% cottage cheese
- 2 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 24 jumbo pasta shells, cooked and drained
Reviews
No. I will not even make this as it is. I don't like cottage cheese. If I do make this, I will sub out mascarpone cheese for the cottage cheese, and I will use my own meat sauce. The style is great; the substance leaves a bit to be desired.
Simple and delicious ??
This is very similar to manicotti and I love that
Love this recipe! Just made it for the 2nd time and wanted to experiment so I switched the sauce recipe around slightly. I cooked down the beef and then pulled it from the pan
I was a skeptical of the meat sauce using tomato paste and hot water, but it was very tasty. I enjoyed the cottage cheese stuffing, but didn’t think it was enough for 24 shells. The amount if filing needs bumped up a bit.
Had no flavor not enough cheese for all the shells ! Will put sad face on this one
We loved the dish. Thank you for the recipe!
I read the reviews to find out how THIS PARTICULAR RECIPE rated. NOT how you modified it to fit your particular tastes and desires even before tasting the original recipe. Why else comment on it?
No comment left
I love a recipe that has some wiggle room for customization without changing the dish into a completely new creation. I, too, like several other reviewers, substituted ricotta cheese for most of the cottage cheese. The container of ricotta was 12 oz. so I used it and added 4 oz. of cottage cheese to fill out the quantity required. I slightly undercooked the shells so that they would retain their shape and not fall apart when filling/baking. All other ingredients and procedures were followed as written. I liked the dish; it was a nice change from and easier prep than lasagna. My husband was less enthusiastic. When I make this again, I think that I may try the modifying the sauce by either using half oregano-half dried basil or by using Italian seasoning. The oregano was a bit overpowering and needed a boost with some basil. I also think that I will add about half a teaspoon of stevia (or sugar) to the sauce; it might balance off the sharpness (bitterness) of the tomato paste. I split the recipe into two containers, baked one and froze the other. The size of the dish does matter; I kept the shells close to one another in a 7x9-inch glass dish so that they would retain their shape and the cheese mixture would not ooze out of the shells. We added a green salad to the meal and it was great!