| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 2 hr 15 min |
| Prep: | 30 min |
| Cook: | 1 hr 45 min |
| Yield: | 4 to 6 servings |
Ingredients
- Kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/2 cup grated carrot
- 1/2 cup grated zucchini
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 1/2 cup chopped celery
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
- Freshly ground pepper
- 1 12-ounce box jumbo pasta shells
- 8 ounces silken tofu, mashed
- 1 10-ounce box frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
- 1 1/2 cups cottage cheese
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
- Cooking spray
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Make the sauce: Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the carrot, zucchini, onion and celery and saute until soft but not brown, 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the basil, oregano, tomato paste, crushed tomatoes and 2 cups water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
- Meanwhile, prepare the shells: Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook for 8 minutes; drain. Mix the tofu, spinach, cottage cheese, parmesan, 1/2 cup mozzarella, the egg and garlic in a medium bowl and season with salt and pepper.
- Mist a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Spread about 1 cup of the sauce in the dish. Stuff the cheese mixture into the shells and place in the baking dish, open-side up. Pour the remaining sauce over the shells. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover, sprinkle with the remaining 1 cup mozzarella and bake for 15 minutes. Let cool slightly before serving.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 6 servings |
| Calories | 801 |
| Total Fat | 36 g |
| Saturated Fat | 15 g |
| Carbohydrates | 80 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 8 g |
| Sugar | 13 g |
| Protein | 43 g |
| Cholesterol | 107 mg |
| Sodium | 1202 mg |
Reviews
This has the potential to be good, but the shells did not have enough flavor for my family, despite having added more garlic and some other spices. The sauce ended up a bit watery. I did like how well the tofu blended in and the sauce has good flavor but not enough to carry the shells. Next time, I’ll add crushed red peppers to the red sauce, skip the water and add a smaller amount of red wine. For the shells, I’d add flavor — more garlic, fresh herbs, perhaps shallots and/or grated lemon rind). Overall, too many changes needed to make this one stand out.
The sauce was bland and needed seasoning. Skip the tofu and use ricotta in place of tofu and cottage cheese. Needs lots of work to give this dish some flavor. Definitely not a keeper.
added meat and loved them…
I didn’t LOVE the sauce, but it was fine. The filling was great…light and airy. Make sure to season it well, though. Mine was a bit bland because I didn’t use kosher salt, just a dash of regular salt.
See my full review at alittlenoshDOTblogspotDOTcom/2011/04/healthy-stuffed-shells.html
This is one of my FAVORITE recipes. It does take a little bit to make, but it is super easy and absolutely delicious. It’s easy to customize, too! Love it!!
This was a big hit with my family. I didn’t tell them that there was tofu in it until everyone had already said that they liked it!
I didn’t grate the veggies, because I like a more rustic presentation and I didn’t need to be sneaky and hide the veggies from my kids. They like vegetables!
This will certainly be a frequently made dinner at our house!
I didn’t grate the veggies, because I like a more rustic presentation and I didn’t need to be sneaky and hide the veggies from my kids. They like vegetables!
This will certainly be a frequently made dinner at our house!
Everyone loved this andI will surely use the sauce recipe againe. The tofu and cottage cheese had the same texture as ricotta. Great tasting! It made more than one pan full so have a smaller pan handy.
I like the veggies in the sauce , but I would use peppers instead of celery and love cheese stuffed shells BUT I don’t understand the need to use cottage cheese instead of ricottta ?
so I would skip the cottage cheese and use deli style ricotta and also skip the tofu
so I would skip the cottage cheese and use deli style ricotta and also skip the tofu
I am gong to try this, as a Weight Watcher I wonder how many points a serving has. will check it out. I love pasta and veggies…
What a surprisingly delicious recipe. I am of Italian decent, so I am weary when I see recipes that do not stick to tradition. I am always looking for meatless dishes to have at least once or twice a week that still have protein.
My friend and I did some mass cooking to make meals to freeze so I will have some prepared dishes for after my baby arrives. There is a lot of prep work with the vegetables more so because we were making two batches. My husband gobbled one of the batches up and couldn’t believe it was ricotta and tofu. He is happy to know we have more in our freezer. Again, great use of veggies and protein in this yummy dish.
My friend and I did some mass cooking to make meals to freeze so I will have some prepared dishes for after my baby arrives. There is a lot of prep work with the vegetables more so because we were making two batches. My husband gobbled one of the batches up and couldn’t believe it was ricotta and tofu. He is happy to know we have more in our freezer. Again, great use of veggies and protein in this yummy dish.