Updated on December 5th, 2022
Donāt like ricotta cheese? No problem, because this recipe for stuffed shells doesnāt use any! Personally, I donāt mind a little ricotta but for those that do this recipe is perfect. Instead of just using cheese, a generous amount of ground beef is going into these shells as well (yummy!). Ā I made this last night and needless to say, they were all gone very quickly. Whatās great about this recipe is the sauce, adding a little red wine to the sauce gives it just the right amount of kick. I know once again Iām using store-bought sauce, but I will post a great recipe for pasta sauce on this blog in the near future. There is nothing about this recipe that is very hard, there may be a few ingredients but the part that takes the most time is stuffing the shells I think. If you are making a lot you might want to get an extra hand for the stuffing part, but regardless the recipe is very simple and wonāt take long at all to prepare a great meal. Oh yeah, and serving with garlic bread is a must. I have submitted this recipe to Kevin at Closet Cooking who is hosting this week’s Presto Pasta Nights.
Stuffed Shells Recipe
Ingredients
- 1lb ground beef
- 1 large onion (diced)
- 1 garlic clove (minced)
- 1 (8oz) bag shredded mozzarella cheese
- Ā½ cup Italian breadcrumbs
- Ā¼ cup fresh parsley (finely chopped)
- 1 egg (beaten)
- 1 (26 oz) jar of spaghetti sauce (whatever you like)
- 1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
- Ā½ cup grated parmesan cheese
- 18 jumbo pasta shells (cooked according to package directions and drained)
- salt and pepper (to taste)
- 1/3 cup dry red wine
Instructions
- Cook shells according to package directions. Meanwhile in pan brown ground beef, garlic, and onion. Drain off any excess fat and let cool. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Combine meat, mozzarella cheese, egg, breadcrumbs, chopped parsley and season with salt and pepper.
- Mix spaghetti and tomato sauce and pour off the bottom of a 13×9 inch oven safe dish covering the bottom with a quarter of the sauce.
- Ā Stuff the cooked and drained pasta shells with the meat mixture and place on top of the sauce in the oven dish. Add red wine and the remaining sauce mixing well and pour over the top of the shells. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.
- Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes.
Ā
shells stuffed with cheese usually don’t satisfy me–there’s always something missing. i’m a carnivore, for crying out loud–gimme meat! this is a great and good-looking recipe for us meat-lovers!
this is fantastic! jumbo shells are great. this makes me think of a giant raviolli š and i have to say i love ricotta. in pancakes, in cheese sauces for musaka but i’m not too big a fan of meat so i might go the opposite and go for a cheese spinach stuffing.
either way, this is fantastic my friend. i’m hungry now.
x
grace – thanks, I love the ground beef as well! This recipe really is great.
diva – I have to agree. Ricotta is great in pancakes. š
That looks soooooooooo good.
I’m going to try that and I’m subscribing to your feed. š
tye – they really are great, I hope you enjoy them as much as I did. Let me know how they turn out. Oh, and welcome to my feed š
Those stuffed shells look great! The photos are nice! What vibrant reds and greens! I like the meat stuffing. Thanks for sharing with Presto Pasta Nights!
Kevin – haha, I had to put that macro to good use. I’m looking forward to when the event is posted!
I’ve always loved baked pasta shells. Yours look awesome. Gorgeous photos on all your posts, btw.
Thanks for sharing with Presto Pasta Nights. I do hope to see you there often.
Ruth – Thanks for the compliments on my photos. I look forward to many more Presto Pasta Nights!
I just made these last night – minor changes, I added fresh spinach to the top of the meat, then parm, then sauce and then mozza.
We all loved them, they will be a regular dish here – I took pics and will blog about them soon and link back here.
Great recipe – thanks!
Kim – I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe. You’re additions aound like they would go great. I look forward to seeing the blog post š
This recipe sounds (and looks) delicious! I’m printing now and going to test it out this weekend when I have a little extra time. Thanks!
Chef Tom – Great, I hope you enjoy it. Let me know how it turns out.
I’m trying this recipe out this weekend for my boyfriend. I can’t wait! It looks so delicious.
Bobby I made these tonight for a table of 9- They were awesome and everyone enjoyed them. Thanks for the recipe!!Awesome
This looks fabulous and I bet red wine steps it up a notch. Question for you, if you must cheat and buy a premade sauce, do you have a favorite?
Heidi – haha, idunno, I normally use ragu. The red wine will enhance any sauce. Let me know how it turns out.
I made this tonight and it is by far the best stuffed shells recipe I have ever come across. Soo soo good! Thanks.
I made this last summer but failed to come back and post the blog entry – am reposting it today so here you go!
Great recipe.
https://therandomramblingsofaworkingmom.blogspot.com/2008/06/kitchen-tip-tuesday-stuffed-shells.html
Thank you. The recipe is great….I did add just a little left over Italian Sausage and it was super good.
The ingredients say spaghetti sauce, but it is okay if I substitute pasta sauce? Or are those the same thing?
Meriem – I would say they are the same š
This seems delicious! Just 1 thing, do i have to use red wine? is there any alternatives, or can i just drop that ingredient. Thanks!
Sae – you can just drop it. It will stil lbe really good š
Great photos!
I was thinking of trying this recipe but replacing the ground beef with italian sausage(I eat pasta with beef every other day).
What do you think? I haven’t tried italian sausage before.
Dominique – I think it would taste great, go for it!
This recipe is what brought me to your site. WOWSA!!! Boy, am I glad I was looking for this recipe. I have just found the best recipe site I have seen for a long time now. I have a list of over forty recipes I am going to try and the funny thing is that your recipes are all the ones I love and want to try. I will check back often now. GREAT PIC’S TOO, makes all “sound” even better, haha
This was very good….I doubled because I was feeding 4 men..2 didnt show but we enjoyed the leftovers the next day…
What a great recipe you saved me! Unexpected quests for dinner. I always have cooked pasta and ground sirloin in freezer for emergencies. So good thank you!
I have made these before w/ this recipe. I am going to use it again for a Christmas Eve get together. How many servings would you say this makes for an average eater? By the way I loved the way this turned out
pam- I would say this should serve 2-4. It will make about 18 shells or more.