RECIPE: Italian Sausage & Ricotta Cheese Stuffed Shells

 

Happy Halloween! I have a SCARY good recipe for you today. See what I did there?

It’s no secret by now that I am a big fan of Italian food. I love pasta dishes! And I love cheese! And I love sauce! ALL THE SAUCE!

Well, when you combine pasta + a cheesy stuffing + sauce… you basically get my salivary glands going at the sight of it.

I was wanting to try and make stuffed shells, but switch it up from the usual just-cheese stuffing. I had some Italian sausage in the fridge that was needing to get used before it went bad and so I turned to Google.

Now, I must give credit where credit is due and I found this recipe on the Johnsonville sausage website and gave it a shot.

But, as usual, I had to put my own twist on it. And it came out DELICIOUS! So, I had to share the recipe with you.

And, because I gotta keep it real and be honest with y’all… these pictures? They’re actually from the LEFTOVERS. The initial meal was SO good I scarfed it down before I remembered to take pictures of it.

So, I had to take a picture of my meal I made the next night with the leftovers. Trust me, it was JUST as good the second night. 🙂

RECIPE: Italian Sausage & Ricotta Cheese Stuffed Shells

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 box of jumbo pasta shells
• 1 package of Italian sausage links – casings removed (I used hot Italian Sausage because I love spicy!)
• 2 jars of marinara sauce (or whatever pasta sauce you want to use)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tub of ricotta cheese
• 4 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 cup of grated Parmesan cheese
• Black pepper (to taste)
• Crushed red pepper (to taste)
• Parsley, Italian Seasoning, & Basil (to taste)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Cook your pasta shells and set them aside. Now, I put a little bit of olive oil mixed in with the shells so that they don’t stick together.

In a large bowl, thoroughly mix together the cooked sausage, the eggs, the ricotta cheese, half of the Parmesan cheese, half the mozzarella cheese, the black pepper, red pepper, parsley, Italian Seasoning, and Basil.

Then, in a large, greased baking dish, put one jar of marinara along the bottom of the dish.

Next, start stuffing the shells with the mixture and placing them in the baking dish. Once they’re all stuffed, top the shells with the other jar of sauce, more mozzarella, and more Parmesan cheese.

Then, bake in the oven COVERED on 350 for 45 minutes or until bubbly and delicious looking.

Voila! You’re done!

I served mine with a side of sauteed and seasoned broccoli, corn, and okra and of course some Texas toast. 🙂  Are you a fan of stuffed shells? Will you try this recipe?