Stuffed Pasta Shells With Ground Beef And Spinach Food

BAKED SPINACH AND BEEF STUFFED SHELLS

Steps:

• Cook shells in salted boiling water until just barely tender, about 12 minutes. Drain and cool under cold running water. Drain again.
• Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350°F.
• Heat a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add beef and cook, stirring and breaking up chunks, until browned, about 7 minutes. Drain off any excess fat.
• In a large bowl, combine beef, ricotta cheese and spinach.
• Spread half the marinara sauce over the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish.
• Spoon a heaping tablespoon of filling into each shell and place them open side up into the dish; fit them together snuggly and you should be able to get them all in a single layer.
• Pour remaining marinara evenly over top, sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and bake until cheese is melted and sauce is bubbling, 30 to 35 minutes.

STUFFED PASTA SHELLS WITH GROUND BEEF AND SPINACH

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Season liberally with salt. It should be as salty as the sea.
• Heat a large skillet with high sides to a medium-low heat. Add olive oil. Once the oil is hot, add 1/4 cup of the onion and half of the garlic. Saute for 1-2 minutes until slightly softened and fragrant. Season with a little bit of salt and pepper. Add in red wine. Bring the mixture to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Simmer until reduced by half.
• Whisk in tomato paste. Cook for 1 minute. Whisk in water, 1/2 teaspoon salt, sugar, and italian seasoning. Bring to a boil and reduce to a low simmer. Cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
• In another medium non-stick skillet. Cook the ground beef until slightly browned and almost all the way cooked through. If any excess grease is produced, drain. Add remaining onion, garlic, and 1 teaspoon salt. Continue to cook until beef is cooked all the way through and onion and garlic are soft, about 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat and cool.
• Drop the pasta shells in the water and cook until aldente.(I like to cook them all even though we only use 12 becaue some will bread.) DO NOT OVER COOK. Use a slotted spoon to pull the shells out one by one. Drain of any excess water and let cool.
• Once the beef has cooled slightly, add remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, spinach, ricotta, parmesan cheese, and egg. Mix to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (I added an extra 1/4 teaspoon of salt, but I like things on the saltier side.)
• Transfer filling to a large ziplock bag. Cut off about 3/4-inch of the tip. Pipe the filling into the cooled shells. Turn the heat off on the sauce and arrange shells in the pan. (If you're using store-bought marinara, just pour the marinara into a skillet with high sides and arrange the stuffed shells in the pan.)
• Spoon a little bit of the sauce on top of the shells, but don't completely cover them. Sprinkle shells with mozzarella. Bake until cheese has melted and sauce is bubbly and hot, about 20 minutes. Garnish with extra parmesan cheese.

SAUSAGE-SPINACH STUFFED SHELLS

Steps:

• Make the stuffed shells: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta shells and cook until just slightly softened but still firm, about 7 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold water. Drizzle with olive oil and toss; set aside.
• Heat the olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, 30 seconds. Add the sausage and cook, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, until browned, about 5 minutes. Add the spinach, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and pepper to taste and stir until heated through, about 2 more minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool completely.
• Combine the spinach mixture, ricotta, 1 cup mozzarella, the parmesan, parsley and 1 teaspoon salt in a bowl. Stuff each shell with about 2 tablespoons of the filling; set aside.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Make the cheese sauce: Melt the butter with the garlic in a medium saucepan over medium heat. When the butter begins to foam, add the flour and whisk constantly until lightly golden, about 1 minute. Add the milk and cream, bring to a simmer and cook, whisking constantly, until the sauce is thick enough to coat a spoon, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in the parmesan, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and nutmeg to taste.
• Brush a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with olive oil and pour in about two-thirds of the cheese sauce. Add the stuffed shells and top with the remaining cheese sauce. Cover with aluminum foil and bake 20 minutes. Uncover and top with the marinara sauce and the remaining 1 cup mozzarella; continue baking until the sauce is bubbly, 15 to 20 more minutes.

BAKED STUFFED PASTA SHELLS

Steps:

• In an 8 quart pot, bring water to a boil and cook shells for 8 minutes or until al dente.
• Drain and cool immediately with cold water.
• Drain and place open side down on paper towels.
• In a medium bowl, combine the rest of ingredients except the spaghetti sauce.
• Reserve the 1/4 cup of Mozzarella.
• Place a thin layer of spaghetti sauce into the bottom of a 12 x 9 x 2 inch baking dish.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Spoon the cheese mixture into each pasta shell and place open side up, in a single layer, in prepared pan.
• Pour the rest of sauce over the stuffed shells.
• Loosely cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes.
• During last 5 minutes of baking, remove foil and sprinkle remaining Mozzarella cheese on top.
• Bake 5 more minutes.
• Garnish with fresh chopped basil.

GIANT STUFFED PASTA SHELLS

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook pasta shells in boiling water, stirring occasionally, until cooked through but firm to the bite, about 8 minutes; drain.
• Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook and stir mushrooms and garlic in hot oil until mushrooms are soft, about 7 minutes. Stir spinach and thyme into the mushroom mixture; season with salt and pepper. Cook and stir the mixture until the spinach wilts. Remove the skillet from heat and drain any excess liquid; transfer drained mixture to a large bowl.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Mix ricotta cheese, 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese, and 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese with the spinach mixture; season again with salt and pepper and stuff into pasta shells.
• Arrange stuffed shells into a 9x11-inch baking dish. Pour pasta sauce over the shells; top with 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese.
• Bake in preheated oven until the cheese is melted and the shells are hot, about 30 minutes.

SPINACH STUFFED PASTA SHELLS

Steps:

• Spoon half of spaghetti sauce into an 11x7x1 1/2 inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Set aside.
• Combine spinach, ricotta cheese, 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, pepper and nutmeg, stir well.
• Spoon spinach mixture evenly into pasta shells.
• Arrange shells over sauce in baking dish.
• Spoon remaining sauce over shells.
• Cover and bake at 400 for 35 minutes or until bubbly.
• Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup parmesan cheese.

SPINACH STUFFED SHELLS

Steps:

• preheat oven 350.
• cook jumbo shells according to pkg direction: drain, reserve 1/2 c pasta water.
• cook ground beef.
• stir in oil, spinach, onion, garlic.
• add some of the pasta water until blended well.
• let mixture cool.
• stir in egg and parmesan cheese.
• Freeze stuffing if making it for a freezer recipe.
• Serving Directions: pour 1 c tomato basil sauce into 13x9 baking dish.
• fill jumbo shells with meat mixture; place in dish.
• pour remaining sauce over shells.
• cover with foil.
• bake 30 min or until thoroughly heated.

JUMBO GROUND BEEF STUFFED SHELLS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Cook pasta according to package directions and cool.
• Heat olive oil in a large skillet.
• Brown ground beef with minced garlic, bell pepper, and onion. Drain and set aside.
• Add garlic powder, season salt, salt and pepper, egg, breadcrumbs, and 2 cups of mozzarella to ground beef mixture.
• In a large skillet, simmer sauce, tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar and spaghetti seasonings.
• Pour half of the sauce mixture into the bottom of a large baking dish.
• Drain pasta shells and place on top of the sauce.
• Fill the shells with the ground beef mixture.
• Top with mozarella and parsley.
• Bake 25 minute.

STUFFED PASTA SHELLS FOR MEAT-LOVERS

Steps:

• Brown ground beef and drain. Return to pan.Saute onions and garlic in pan with cooked meat for approximately 3 minutes. Set aside.
• Boil salted water to cook the pasta shells according to package al dente style. Strain and set aside.
• In a large bowl, mix ricotta, parmasan, and 2/3 package of shredded mozzarella. Add italian seasoning, garlic pepper, eggs and milk and mix thoroughly. Mix in meat and spinach.
• In a large baking dish, pour enough sauce to cover the bottom of the pan lightly. Fill each shell with large rounded tablespoons of meat and cheese mixture, and place in pan. Be sure to closely place the shells together so they don't get hard while baking.
• *If there are too many shells for one pan, make a secong and store tightly covered in freezer until later use.
• Pour remaining sauce evenly over all of the shells. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella cheese. Cover tightly with aluminum foil, and bake at 375 for 35-45 minutes. Take foil off pan, and bake additional 10 minutes.