No Mess or Stress Stuffed Shells

  4.7 – 29 reviews  • Pasta Recipes
Level: Easy
Total: 1 hr 20 min
Prep: 20 min
Cook: 1 hr
Yield: 6 servings
Level: Easy
Total: 1 hr 20 min
Prep: 20 min
Cook: 1 hr
Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients

  1. 1 box uncooked jumbo pasta shells
  2. 1 (26-ounce) jar chunky tomato sauce with onion and garlic
  3. 1 (28-ounce) can peeled whole tomatoes
  4. 1 package (8) uncooked pre-seasoned meatballs
  5. 1 (15-ounce) container ricotta cheese
  6. 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan
  7. 1/2 cup shredded provolone cheese
  8. 1 egg
  9. 1 teaspoon dried basil
  10. 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
  11. 1 (8-ounce) package shredded mozzarella cheese (whole milk)
  12. Special equipment: 1 (13 by 9-inch) baking dish or 1 (10-inch) round baking dish

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Prepare shells according to the directions on the box. After cooking shock in an ice bath.
  3. In the large bowl combine the tomato sauce, and the can of peeled whole tomatoes. Break up the tomatoes with a fork. Add 4 of the meatballs to the sauce and break up with a fork.
  4. In a medium bowl combine the ricotta, Parmesan, shredded provolone, egg, basil and Italian seasoning. Stir until well blended.
  5. Pour the ricotta cheese mixture into a resealable bag. Cut 1 corner of the bag and use it to fill each pasta shell with cheese mixture.
  6. Pour 2 inches of the sauce and meatball mixture in the baking dish. Add 12 cheese stuffed shells, top with 1/4 cup of the mozzarella cheese and pour half of the remaining sauce mixture over shells. Place the remaining 12 stuffed shells on top, add remaining sauce mixture and top with remaining mozzarella cheese. Slice the remaining 4 meatballs in half and place around the perimeter of the baking dish.
  7. Cover with foil, and place in oven and bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour. Remove from oven and let cool 5 minutes before serving.

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 1 of 6 servings
Calories 861
Total Fat 29 g
Saturated Fat 16 g
Carbohydrates 112 g
Dietary Fiber 9 g
Sugar 12 g
Protein 44 g
Cholesterol 117 mg
Sodium 1268 mg
Serving Size 1 of 6 servings
Calories 861
Total Fat 29 g
Saturated Fat 16 g
Carbohydrates 112 g
Dietary Fiber 9 g
Sugar 12 g
Protein 44 g
Cholesterol 117 mg
Sodium 1268 mg

Reviews

Lynn Horne
This was an awesome recipe! I had a bag of huge shells given to me, and this recipe was my answer! Yum!
Lisa Hernandez
Made Turkey bolognese which you could use with the stuffed shells rather than the meatballs was super easy & made me think of Sandra Lee sauted very finely chopped onion, celery, & carrot, then 1 clove minced garlic, sea salt, pepper. Browned ground turkey in that pan added basil & oregano. Then added Hunt’s Garlic & Herb sauce added a little moscato wine. My family LOVED this sauce. Semi-homemade mmmmm
Marvin Collins
I don’t like ricotta cheese so the 2nd time I made this with cottage cheese which I discovered I like. I love this dish!
Lisa Gordon
This was a huge success in our home, though we through in a few of our own innovations based on what we had on hand. 1.) We used a can of diced, rather than whole tomatoes. 2.) I accidentally mixed in the mozzarella cheese with the ricotta / Parmesan / provolone mixture, but it seemed to turn out for the best. Had a lot of mozzarella on hand, so also used it to top the dish per the recipe. 3.) Instead of doing two layers of 12 shells to a layer, we arranged them in an 8 x 3 pattern in a 13 x 9 dish, just one layer. 4.) Used our slightly modified cheese filling for 12 shells, then chopped up some fresh baby spinach leaves and fresh button mushrooms in a food processor and added it to the remaining cheese mixture, and used that for the final 12 shells. Used about a cup of spinach and a cup of mushrooms. That made a great filling far, far better. Also made enough filling for an additional 8 shells. We will be making this again!
Rachel Duncan
Love this recipe. It was delicious and easy to make. I used one box of shells and doubled up the ingredients for the cheese and sauce mixture. I also added around 15 cooked pre-seasoned italian turkey meatballs because I couldn’t find them uncooked. Everyone loved it. Made enough to feed 6 people and I have half a tray left over.
Matthew Lopez
Ooey and gooey, we enjoyed this. Based on other reviews I doubled all the ingredients in the ricotta mixture and had just enough for 24 full shells. I could not find shredded provolone in the market o shredded some myself using stacked deli slices. I was disappointed how pricey this dish ended up being (pre seasoned raw meatballs were expensive at my store, but I will say we had lots of leftovers. Would be great for a large family meal, not so much for two people.
Laura Pacheco
This was absolutely fantastic!! The only thing I did differently was add more meatballs. My whole family loved this recipe.
Donald Price
I used Aidells Teriyaki and Pinapple precooked meatballs from Costco (also available at Safeway and reduced the cooking time to 30 minutes. A real timesaver. Delicious!!
Natalie Roberts
i made this for dinner tonight after seeing this on the show this morning, it turned out really good, only thing was i cooked my meatballs half way thru before putting it in the oven. but other than that it was great and i loved it.
Joseph Jordan
I just made this lasagna and it was easy and good. I made my own slight adjustments – I used 2 extra cups of cheese and used canneloni shells instead of pasta shells. I think the next time I make this – I’m going to add a layer of spinach & mushrooms.

 

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