- Hi guys, welcome back to my channel.
So today I'm gonna show you how to make a delicious
baked stuffed shells recipe that would be wonderful
for a Sunday night dinner.
It's hardy and delicious and it's just pure comfort food,
especially if you're still dealing with chilly weather.
So the first thing you wanna do is make the sauce.
It does take a little bit of time,
about 20 minutes or so to simmer.
It will also simmer when it's in the oven
for about 45 minutes.
So between the two,
it really does bring that acid down of the tomato puree.
So we're first going to brown some sausage.
So I like this sauce with a little bit of hardy meat to it
because I just think it makes the whole thing more filling,
but you could also leave the meat out
and make it vegetarian.
So I have five sweet Italian sausage here.
You could use four if that's how your package comes.
I find it depending on the grocery store,
it differs if you get four in a pack or if you get five.
(chuckling)
It's not gonna hurt it either way.
You can go four or five.
You just wanna brown the sausage
until it's cooked through, and then you can transfer it
to a plate lined with a paper towel.
I just use the fat that's in the pan
to saute up the vegetables.
And you wanna add one cup of diced white onion.
And then we're also gonna add half a cup of chopped celery
and half a cup of diced carrots.
And then you can season your sauce
with a little bit of salt and pepper.
Now we are ready for the tomato puree.
So we are going to add 30 ounces of tomato puree.
And then you wanna add a can of the crushed tomatoes,
and then a tablespoon of just tomato paste.
And the tomato paste just sort of heightens
all those tomato flavors.
So I do like to add it.
And then you also wanna add a tablespoon
of Italian seasoning and then two garlic cloves.
There we go.
Then you wanna add back in the sausage.
So we are just gonna let this simmer
for 20 minutes and then we're gonna get
to work on our filling for our shells.
All right, now for the ricotta cheese filling
that we're gonna use to stuff our shells with.
So I have 15 ounces of whole milk ricotta cheese
that I'm gonna add to my big bowl here.
And then you also wanna add one egg just to bind the mixture
and it prevents it from becoming too runny
when it heats up in the oven.
And that way it'll stay in your shells,
which is what we want.
And then you can whisk that up
just to combine the egg and the cheese.
And then you can also add a little bit
of freshly cracked pepper.
And we are going to add a half a cup
of grated Parmesan cheese for flavor.
And then a half a cup of grated mozzarella cheese
just for that delicious gooeyness.
Can never have enough of that.
And then a quarter cup of finely chopped parsley.
And if you don't have parsley,
you could also use finely chopped basil.
That would be good too.
After the filling is done,
you could stuff your shells with a spoon,
but I find that becomes pretty messy pretty quickly.
So I like to put the filling in a pastry bag
because the shells are curved and when you cook them
they get really kind of flopsy mopsy on you.
And if you're trying to put the filling in with the spoon,
it kind of can tear them and fall apart.
So what might seem like a little bit extra
in the beginning pays off in the process
because you're gonna have a much easier time
filling the shells if you put the filling in a pastry bag.
All right, a couple of tips on the shells.
I can fit about 16 of these shells.
I probably could stretch it to 18
or 19 if I really smushed them in together.
But I cook 25 of the shells because of the fact
that some of them will tear when they're cooking.
So what I would do is,
before you cook them, go through the package,
count out 25 and pick the ones that look more like this,
that are already open a bit.
They'll just be easier to fill
as opposed to ones like say this
that are really kind of curved tightly.
Then what I do with the leftover shells is I just keep them
in my fridge and save a little bit of sauce.
And that is just a quick and easy snack
for somebody who comes home from school starving.
The shells only take a few minutes to cook
because you don't want them to be overcooked.
Remember, they're gonna also bake in the oven
and they'll continue to soften up.
Because if you overcook them,
they'll be harder to fill as well.
So I would just take them to al dente,
and you'll be good to go.
So our tomato sauce smells divine.
We are now just going to load it up in our casserole dish.
So I do about two thirds of the sauce in the dish
and then I save the remaining third
to put on top of the shells.
Helps to not smoosh the shells too much
because this is a pretty chunky sauce
and the shells are pretty delicate,
so I just put a little bit
so that they're not too dry on top.
And then we're of course
gonna add all of that delicious cheese.
Okay, now for the best part, the mozzarella cheese.
So do not be shy with this part
because this is the best part.
We all know it.
Then this is gonna go in the oven covered
at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes,
and then you can uncover it for about 10 to 15 minutes
just to bubble up that cheese.
And then when it's done, you can garnish
with a little bit of fresh parsley and dig in.
I hope you guys give this recipe a try
and let me know what you think.
And I'll see you back here next time
for another delicious recipe.
Until then, bye.