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Though this recipe is not exactly traditional, I am nothing if a little extra.
The first meal I shared with my future-in-laws and family after mine and Lexi’s engagement, I made some homemade stuffed shells. So whenever I make stuffed shells I feel especially nostalgic and romantic.
When we were taking the pictures for this recipe, Alexis called these “the sloppy joe’s of Italian food”. Even though they aren’t the prettiest, they are so cheesy and delicious you can’t help but dig in!
We love using our non-stick lasagna pan. Its wider and longer than the 9×13 glass pan we used to do, meaning more food. We got ours at Ross for a killer deal, but this one on Amazon is a great buy!
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs ricotta cheese
- 1 1/2 lbs + 1/2 lbs mozzarella cheese
- 1 – 12oz box of jumbo shell pasta
- 64oz tomato sauce
- 2/3 cups of Italian seasoning
- 1/8 cup of garlic powder
- 1/8 cup of onion powder
- 1lb ground Italian sausage
Instructions
- Fry ground Italian sausage. Drain and set aside.
- Boil pasta for half of cook time mentioned on box. Drain, and carefully separate out 21 pieces without tears or holes. (Cook the entire box so you have enough pieces even if some break. You can freeze any extras to use later.)
- In a medium bowl, mix tomato sauce and spices. In another bowl mix the ricotta cheese and 1 ½ lbs of mozzarella cheese.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Place a 1” layer of sauce on the bottom of your 10×14” lasagna pan.
- How to stuff the shells: Using a spoon, fill each shell with cheese mixture. Then pinch noodle partially closed until edges of shells are about half an inch apart, but not touching. Scrape off excess cheese.
- Place stuffed shells in three even rows of seven shells each. Sprinkle cooked ground meat over shells and sauce. Spoon remaining sauce over shells, and then sprinkle remaining 1/2lb of mozzarella cheese.
- Loosely cover pan with tin foil. Place in the oven and bake covered for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake again for 30 minutes or until cheese is melted and lightly brown around edges.
Don’t forget your green side salad and garlic bread!