Ricotta Stuffed Shells With Spinach Food

SPINACH AND RICOTTA STUFFED SHELLS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Cook the pasta al dente, according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
• Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil begins to shimmer, add the garlic and cook until it begins to brown, about a minute or two. Add the spinach and cook, stirring occasionally, until the leaves begin to wilt but are still bright green, about 3 to 4 minutes. The spinach should be reduced by half. Remove from the heat and let cool.
• In a mixing bowl, stir together the spinach, ricotta, mozzarella, Parmesan, egg, basil and salt and pepper until thoroughly combined. Pour 1/2 cup of the marinara sauce into the bottom of a shallow 8-inch by 8-inch baking dish. Stuff each pasta shell with a generous amount of the spinach and ricotta mixture, and place in the baking dish.
• Cover with the remaining sauce and bake covered with aluminum foil for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking until the top begins to brown and the sauce begins the bubble, another 10-15 minutes. Serve warm with a dusting of Parmesan.

RICOTTA AND SPINACH STUFFED SHELLS

Steps:

• Pulse tomatoes and their juices in a food processor until smooth.
• Heat oil in a medium pan over medium heat. Saute onion and garlic until tender, about 7 minutes. Add tomatoes and cook, stirring until slightly thickened, about 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Let cool.
• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Pour boiling water over bulgur, cover, and let stand until soft and water is absorbed, 30 minutes.
• Cook shells in a large pot of salted boiling water. Drain and let cool.
• Steam spinach, covered, over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until tender. Squeeze out excess moisture, coarsely chop, and add to bulgur. Stir in ricotta. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in egg.
• Coat bottom of a 9-by-13-inch casserole dish with 1 cup sauce. Spoon filling into shells and arrange in pan. Add remaining sauce, cover with foil, and bake until bubbling, about 40 minutes. Sprinkle with Parmesan before serving.

SPINACH AND RICOTTA STUFFED SHELLS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Cook pasta until al dente according to package directions.
• Heat oil in a large skillet. Add onion and cook until tender about 3-4 minutes. Add in garlic and cook for an additional minute.
• Add the spinach and cook until wilted, about 2 minutes.
• Transfer the spinach mixture to a large bowl and add in ricotta, mozzarella, Parmesan, egg, salt and pepper. Stir to combine.
• Spread about 1/2 of the sauce in the bottom of a 8 x8 or 9 x 9 baking dish.
• Stuff shells with the spinach cheese mixture and place in the baking dish.
• Top with the remaining sauce and bake for 20-30 minutes or until warmed through.
• Serve immediately with basil and parmesan cheese, if desired.

STUFFED SHELLS FILLED WITH SPINACH AND RICOTTA

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt generously. Fill a bowl with ice water. Blanch the spinach for no more than 20 seconds, just until wilted, and transfer to the ice water, then drain. Squeeze out excess water. Bring the water in the pot back to a boil and add the pasta shells. Cook al dente, about 10 minutes, and drain and toss with the olive oil. Set aside.
• Turn on a food processor fitted with the steel blade and drop in the garlic. When the garlic is chopped and adhering to the sides of the bowl, stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the spinach and pulse to chop finely. Add the ricotta and the egg and process until well blended. Add 1/3 cup of the Parmesan, the chives, and salt and pepper to taste. Pulse until well blended.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Oil a large baking dish or two 2-quart dishes. The shells should fit into the dish in one layer. Fill each shell with a scant tablespoon of the filling. Arrange in a single layer in the baking dish. Top with the tomato sauce and cover the dish with foil.
• Bake 30 minutes in the preheated oven. Remove from the heat, sprinkle on the remaining Parmesan, and serve.

RICOTTA, SPINACH & CHICKEN STUFFED PASTA SHELLS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 180F (160C) (I use my NuWave Oven for about 45 minutes).
• Par-cook the pasta in boiling water for 3 minutes. Drain and cool slightly.
• Brush a shallow 8 cup ovenproof baking dish or ramekins, with oil. (or spray).
• Microwave the spinach until just wilted. Then drain and chop finely, squeezing out excess liquid.
• Combine spinach, ricotta and cottage cheese annd spoon or pipe into the pasta shells.
• Combine the pasta sauce and stock and pour into the prepared dish or ramekins. Place the shells on top and scatter pieces of skinless chicken around. Sprinkle grated parmesan over all.
• Bake covered for about 1 hour and scatter torn basil leaves on top to serve.

STUFFED SHELLS WITH RICOTTA AND SPINACH (BY GERTC96 & 2BLEU)

Steps:

• In a saute pan over medium-high heat, fry bacon till crisp. Remove bacon and drain on paper towels.
• Melt butter in the pan with the bacon grease. Add mushrooms, season with salt and pepper, and saute' until just soft.
• Add spinach and green onions. Saute for 3-5 minutes. Remove pan from heat and set spinach mixture into a mesh strainer to drain.
• In large bowl, combine, ricotta, mozarella, egg, parsley, tarragon. Season with more salt/pepper to taste. Add spinach mixture to the ricotta mixture and mix well.
• Spread tomato sauce into the bottom of a baking dish. Spoon spinach/cheese mixture into the cooked shells. Place filled shells into the baking dish and sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Bake at 350°F for 20-25 minutes. NOTE: If you have leftover filling, place it in a ramekin or small baking dish and bake along side of the shells. It's delicious!

MOM'S SPINACH AND RICOTTA STUFFED SHELLS

Steps:

• Bring 4 - 5 qts of water to a rolling boil, add 2 tbs of salt, gently add pasta, be sure to add extra shells as you will lose a few, cook for approximately 10 minutes, or it tests al dente. Drain and rinse in cold water. If pasta is starchy, you can toss in olive oil to prevent from sticking, but use sparingly as it will also prevent the cheese from sticking.
• While pasta is cooking start your sauce:.
• In an 6-8 qt pan brown meats over a medium hot burner, work it with a spoon until meat crumbles, add onion, then cook until dark brown, If there is an excessive amount of fat, drain and, optionally, rinse. Add garlic and season to taste. Cook until garlic is fragrant, use caution not to burn. Add sauce & paste, reduce to a simmer. Continue to simmer until ready to serve, adjust seasoning as necessary.
• While meat sauce is cooking thaw and rinse and your spinach, I like to use the microwave , but you can rinse it under hot water. After draining all the water you can in a colander wrap the spinach in a very clean towel and twist to get the remaining water out, this is a critical step. When you get done the spinach will be VERY dry. Crumble the spinach in a large bowl, add ricotta, ¾ of the mozzarella, ¾ of the parmesan, mix, add egg, mix add seasonings/garlic and mix. Be sure to add enough salt here, the spinach really comes alive when seasoned properly.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• I like to bake the noodles in 8x12 foil pans, but you can use a single ½ sheet pan or a large casserole dish or a pair of 9x13 pans. Whatever you decide, lightly grease the pans, ladle in a generous amount of sauce. Each shell will take about 2 tablespoons of filling. They are very full, but not too top heavy. I fit about 20 shells in an 8x12 pan. Once the shells are filled and arranged, spoon a small amount of sauce on each one, sprinkle remaining cheeses on the top, cover with greased foil and bake for 25 minutes.
• If you are making the shells ahead of time you will need to adjust your cooking time, bake at 325 for 15 minutes or so, then raise temp to 350 and bake for an additional 20-25 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 5 minutes, until cheese is melted. At this point you can turn on the broiler (top element) and brown the cheeses.
• Remove from oven and let sit for 10 minutes (or so) while you warm up your garlic bread.

RICOTTA AND SPINACH STUFFED PASTA SHELLS

Steps:

• Cook pasta in a large saucepan of boiling water, uncovered, 3 minutes; drain.
• Cool slightly.
• Preheat oven to moderate.
• Boil, steam or microwave spinach until just wilted; drain.
• Chop spinach finely, squeeze out excess liquid.
• Combine spinach in a large bowl with ricotta and cottage cheese; spoon spinach mixture into pasta shells.
• Combine sauce and stock in oiled shallow 2 litre (8 cup) ovenproof dish.
• Place pasta shells in dish; sprinkle with parmesan.
• Bake, covered, in moderate oven about 1 hour or until pasta is tender.