Spinach Ricotta Stuffed Shells

Name: Spinach Ricotta Stuffed Shells
Total time: 75 min
Yield: 2
Ingredients: 8 oz jumbo pasta shells; 2 cup ricotta (whole-milk, drained); 2 cup mozzarella (low-moisture, grated, divided); ½ cup Parmesan (grated); 1 unit egg; 2 tbsp basil (chopped); ½ tsp salt; ¼ tsp black pepper; 3 cup marinara (homemade or a good jar); 1 cup spinach (already wilted, squeezed dry and chopped)

Noodles & Rice · European · American

A variant of Stuffed Shells — An ingredient branch from the authored reference, with its selected additions included in the quantities and method.

10 ingredients · 75 minutes · 2 servings

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Contains gluten, dairy, egg

Restrictions

Containsgluten · dairy · eggIt is in an ingredient you cannot leave out.

Diets

VegetarianPescatarianNo porkNo alcohol

Worked out from the ingredient list. It knows nothing about brands, shared equipment or cross contamination, and it is not a certification — if you have an allergy, you still have to read the label.

Ingredients

Servings:

8 oz	jumbo pasta shells
2 cup	ricotta (whole-milk, drained)
2 cup	mozzarella (low-moisture, grated, divided)
½ cup	Parmesan (grated)
1 unit	egg
2 tbsp	basil (chopped)
½ tsp	salt
¼ tsp	black pepper
3 cup	marinara (homemade or a good jar)
1 cup	spinach (already wilted, squeezed dry and chopped)

Steps

boil9 min
well-salted, 2 minutes shy of the package
shells very al dente, cooled on a sheet so they do not nest and tear — they finish cooking in the sauce's steam, and a fully boiled shell is a torn one by the time it is stuffed; cook a few extras, casualties are certain
mix4 min
Mix the ricotta, half the mozzarella, Parmesan, egg, basil, salt and pepper with all the listed spinach, already wilted, squeezed thoroughly dry and chopped. Use drained ricotta and dry spinach so the filling does not release excess water in the oven.
prep12 min
sauce below, shells snug
a cup of marinara across the dish floor, each shell filled with a generous spoonful and seated open-side up in one layer — the sauce underneath is what steams the shells' bottoms tender where the oven's top heat cannot reach
bake25 min
375°F, covered, sauce over and around
remaining marinara spooned around (not drowning) the shells, foil on — covered is where the pasta finishes and the filling heats through without the top drying to leather
bake10 min
375°F, uncovered, remaining mozzarella on
until the cheese is molten and freckled brown at the edges — the uncovered finish is only for the top; everything underneath was already done
rest8 min
before serving — straight from the oven the filling is lava and the sauce is thin; eight minutes sets both