This classic Italian dinner recipe is comfort food at its finest! These stuffed pasta shells are filled with ricotta, mozzarella, and Parmesan cheeses along with spinach and topped with an Italian sausage studded marinara sauce. A generous sprinkling of more cheese makes this a dinner your family will love!
One of the great things about the summer is getting to hang out with family and friends and share delicious meals. Roasted pork tenderloin, chili lime marinated chicken, and crispy panko topped cod are some of our favorite warm weather dinners.
These Triple Cheese Stuffed Pasta Shells with Italian Sausage are also on top of our MUST MAKE list of crowd pleasing summer recipes.
Ingredients for stuffed shells with sausage
- Italian sausage - choose either mild/sweet or spicy
- onion
- garlic
- canned crushed tomatoes
- fresh basil
- kosher salt
- pepper
- frozen spinach
- ricotta cheese
- mozzarella cheese
- Parmesan cheese
- Italian seasoning
- jumbo pasta shells
How to make stuffed pasta shells
Stuffed pasta shells are one of those entrees that everyone loves ~~ just like this family favorite lasagna. Jumbo pasta shells are filled with 3 cheeses (ricotta, mozzarella, and Parmesan) along with spinach, fresh basil, and some Italian seasoning.
The cheesy filled pasta shells are surrounded by a tomatoey and easy to make marinara sauce with the addition of Italian sausage ~ SUPER YUM! Baked until bubbly and hot, this classic comfort food is awesome!
Suggestions and recipe tips
- Make sure to drain off any grease after sautéing the Italian sausage so the sauce isn't too oily.
- To make sure that the cheese and spinach filling is not watery, use part skim ricotta and mozzarella cheeses. Also thoroughly squeeze out as much water as possible from the thawed spinach before adding it along with the cheeses.
- Add a few extra pasta shells to the pot when cooking them. Many times the shells will break or tear when cooking so the extras will come in handy.
Can stuffed pasta shells be made in advance?
YES! YES! Definitely YES! Stuffed shells are one of the ideal recipes to prepare ahead of time. The entrée can be assembled in advance.
Cover with plastic wrap and then foil and refrigerate up to 2 days or freeze up to 3 months. Remove the plastic wrap and foil before baking. If refrigerated, bake at 375 degrees F for 40 to 50 minutes. If frozen, bake for 65 to 75 minutes. Reheat already baked shells lightly covered in the microwave on 60% power for 1 to 2 minutes. Continue heating at 30 second intervals until heated through.
One more thing
Did you try this recipe?
Let me know by leaving a comment and a star rating below. Share it on Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook.
Thanks ~ Amy
Recipe
Triple Cheese Stuffed Pasta Shells with Italian Sausage
Ingredients
- 12 ounces Italian sausage
- 1 medium onion diced, about 2 cups
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
- 20 fresh basil leaves chopped, divided
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 1 10 ounce package frozen spinach, thawed and thoroughly drained
- 3 cups ricotta cheese
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 32 jumbo pasta shells cooked according to package directions
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Heat a large sauté pan over medium heat. Crumble the Italian sausage and add it to the pan. Add the onions and garlic. Sauté for 8 to 10 minutes or until the sausage is thoroughly cooked. Drain off any grease.
- To the sauté pan, add the crushed tomatoes, ½ of the fresh basil, kosher salt and pepper. Bring to a low boil then turn down the heat and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes.
- In a large bowl combine the spinach, ricotta cheese, 1 ½ cups shredded mozzarella cheese, ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese, the remaining fresh basil, and Italian seasoning.
- In a 9 by 13 inch baking dish, assemble the stuffed shells. Spread about 1 cup of the Italian sausage and tomato sauce evenly over the bottom of the dish.
- Fill each pasta shell with about 2 tablespoons of the cheese mixture and place in the baking dish. Continue filling all the shells. About 28 filled pasta shells fit snugly in the dish.
- Top the filled pasta shells with about 1 ½ cups of the sauce. Sprinkle with the remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses.
- Bake uncovered for 25 to 35 minutes or until bubbly and hot.
- Serve with the remaining Italian sausage and tomato sauce.
Video
Notes
- Make sure to drain off any grease after sautéing the Italian sausage so the sauce isn't too oily.
- To make sure that the cheese and spinach filling is not watery, use part skim ricotta and mozzarella cheeses. Also thoroughly squeeze out as much water as possible from the spinach before adding it along with the cheeses.
- Add a few extra pasta shells to the pot when cooking them. Many times the shells will break or tear when cooking so the extras will come in handy.
Tammy says
can you use fresh spinach?
Amy Casey says
Yes. But I would sauté it first.