Easy Stuffed Shells Recipe (With Homemade Italian Sausage)
This Stuffed Shells recipe features pasta shells filled with a mixture of ground beef, mushrooms and cheeses that's baked to perfection in a garlic pasta sauce.
Course Dinner
Cuisine Italian
Keyword Stuffed Shells Recipe
Prep Time 1 hourhour10 minutesminutes
Cook Time 50 minutesminutes
Total Time 2 hourshours
Servings 60stuffed shells
Author Valya's Taste of Home
Ingredients
Italian Sausage Seasoning Ingredients
1tbsp.- parsley
1tbsp.- Italian seasoning
½tbsp.- minced garlic
½tbsp.- minced onions
1tbsp.- sea salt
½tsp.- black pepper
1tsp.- red pepper flakes
½tsp.– fennel
½tsp.- paprika
Stuffed Shells Stuffing Ingredients
2lbs.– ground beef
24oz.– fresh mushrooms
1lb.– mozzarella cheese
1lb.– cheddar cheese
4oz.– parmesan cheese
½- roasted garlic pasta sauce
3oz.– tomato paste
2cups– cottage cheese
1– yellow bell pepper
1large - egg
60large – pasta shells
Instructions
Prepping Instrucions
Start by peeling the mushrooms, then rinse and cut them into small pieces.
Sauté mushrooms on high heat for 5 minutes or so. The mushrooms will release some water. As soon the water evaporates, reduce the heat to medium and sauté for a couple more minutes.
Set aside and let the mushrooms cool until ready for use.
Next, shred all the cheese and mix it together. Cover it with plastic food wrap and refrigerate until ready for use.
After that, measure out all the Italian sausage ingredients, mix them together, and set aside until ready for use.
How to Make Stuffed Shells
To save time, I cook the pasta while I sauté the meat. Boil the jumbo pasta shells according to the package's label instructions in a large pot. When it's done, drain and rinse the pasta with cold water. This prevents the pasta from becoming slimy and sticky.
Cover the pasta with a lid. This will prevents it from drying out while you work on the meat.
Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to a large frying pan, then add the ground beef. Sauté the beef on high heat until it releases water and sizzles.
Reduce the heat to medium and add mixed seasonings. Sauté for 5 minutes and stir occasionally.
Add and mix in roasted garlic pasta sauce and tomato sauce. Sauté for 3 more minutes. Set aside and let it cool. The meat should be warm, not hot when adding cheese.
Combine the sautéed and cooled beef, sautéed and cooled mushrooms, diced yellow pepper, cottage cheese, egg, and half of the shredded cheese mixture in a large bowl.
Reserve and refrigerate the other half for topping stuffed shells. Mix everything together carefully, do not mash it.
How to Cook Stuffed Shells
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees ℉. Stuff each large shell with about ⅓ cup of filling using a spoon and line them in an oven-safe baking dish or casserole dish.
Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake for 40 minutes at 350 ℉. Remove from the oven, remove the aluminum foil, top the shells with the reserved cheese, and bake uncovered for another 10 minutes. I personally needed 2 - 10 X 13” pans for 60 jumbo shells.
I cooked one right away and saved one in the fridge, covered with plastic food wrap, for the next day. You may also freeze these shells. If freezing, you will need to freeze some shredded cheese separately.
Defrosting will not be necessary, just extend the cooking time for about 10 minutes. Leave the cheese on the countertop, and it should thaw out while the shells are baking.
Remove from the oven, cover the pan with the foil used earlier, and let it cool for 15 minutes before serving with garlic bread or a side salad.
Your delicious Stuffed Shells recipe is ready to be served!