- Hey, I'm John Kanell.
And today, on Preppy Kitchen,
we're making classic, delicious stuffed shells.
So let's get started.
First off, set that oven to 375.
And we're gonna bring three quarts of water
to a boil in a big pot.
These shells are giant,
and you want the giant jumbo shells for this recipe,
so you needed a lot of space.
And I will say, as always,
you should salt your water very well.
It's infusing the pasta with so much flavor,
and it also changes the boiling temperature of the water.
So now, I'm gonna add my shells in.
We only need 24 for this recipe,
but you wanna be better safe than sorry,
'cause some of them will tear and, you know, make some more.
We're gonna let this boil uncovered
for maybe 10 minutes or so.
They should be on the al dente side of done,
because they'll continue baking in the oven.
Right now, I have a little bit of prep work to do.
So I'm grabbing some fresh parsley,
and I'm gonna give it a chop.
I want about 1/4 of a cup,
but you can always add more.
And this recipe is so forgiving,
so feel free to improvise
and add more of your favorite ingredients.
Personally, I love parsley,
so if I read 1/4 of a cup, that means 1/2 a cup.
Stuffed shells is like an Italian American classic
that so many of us, like, love having.
But I have to tell you, if you make them at home,
there's almost no way they can't be amazing.
Stuffed shells are a symphony of cheeses and flavor
cradled in these beautiful jumbo shells,
bathed in an amazing marinara sauce.
So today, we're gonna make this
as like an easy weeknight meal.
I'm using a wonderful marinara sauce that I love.
If you want to go all out,
you can make the marinara from scratch.
You could make your pasta from scratch
and form it into jumbo shells.
I don't even know how you do that.
I only know how to make fresh pasta.
If you know how to do it, you let me know in the comments.
This parsley is nicely chopped.
My other little bit of prep work
is to grate some Parmesan.
Want about 3/4 of a cup, or 90 grams.
You could definitely use pre-grated Parmesan if you prefer.
Oh my gosh, that Parmesan smells so nice.
Ah, beautiful clouds.
My prep work is complete.
Let's make our filling.
By the time we're done,
the shells will be just about ready.
(bell dings)
Into a large bowl,
I'm adding 15 ounces, or 425 grams,
of fresh, delicious ricotta cheese.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again,
ricotta does not get its due.
It is so mild, creamy,
and just an amazing vehicle for flavor.
All right, my scale's done.
Now, I'm adding in about two cups of mozzarella.
One cup is reserved for later.
You can add more than a cup later, by the way.
I'm adding in about 1/2 a cup of my Parmesan,
two tablespoons of my chopped parsley.
I'm also adding in two teaspoons of Italian seasoning,
1/2 a teaspoon of salt,
and about 1/4 teaspoon of freshly cracked black pepper.
There's so many optional things you could add to this.
It could be onion powder or garlic powder,
any herbs that you love.
Today, I'm gonna add in a little bit of lemon zest,
just to brighten it up a bit.
I'm also adding in one egg to help hold it together.
Give it a good mix.
Once your filling's together,
grab a 9x13 casserole dish.
And we're gonna add two cups
of a nice marinara into the bottom,
so just plop that in there.
You really don't have to be exact with this.
I'm just gonna smooth this out into a nice even layer.
This is the bed of deliciousness
that our shells will be cooking in.
Stuffed shells is, of course, Italian,
specifically originating in Sicily.
And the shell shape is supposed to look like a conch.
I'm not gonna try and say it,
because my Italian accent is horrible.
Our shells are ready,
so right now, we need to drain them out,
because you do not want them to overcook.
Right into a colander.
Our shells are done and drained.
And you could run these under cold water
if you're in a hurry.
I just let them sit for like five seconds,
and they're not so hot anymore.
Fill them up with your cheese mixture.
I think that's nice.
You want a generously stuffed shell.
And we're gonna place this right into our bed of marinara,
and repeat.
These torn ones, I don't know,
I love to use the ones that are nice and intact.
They can really hold the cheese well.
And when I made this, I used Parmesan, like you saw,
but you could use Pecorino Romano
or any like nice, hard, nutty cheese that you enjoy.
A lot of the times, when you see these photographed,
they either show it to you at this stage,
where they're just sitting here before baking,
or like very, very lightly dressed
with sauce and cheese on top.
And that's just not realistic.
In reality, you want this like
in a bath of cheese and sauce.
(bell dings)
Like I said earlier,
you could've run this pasta under cold water.
The nice thing is that it helps your hands not get burnt.
But if you do that,
I really think that the pasta is less likely
to absorb a lot of the delicious flavors that we have here.
Let it cool down a bit, and then stuff them up.
Last two shells go right in.
I had just enough filling.
Look how beautiful that is.
Enjoy it now,
because we're about to cover it up with delicious things
that'll obscure your sight.
By the way, if you wanna make these way in advance,
you can assemble this in an aluminum baking dish
and then freeze it right now.
So just cover it really well with plastic and foil.
Goes right to the freezer,
and then you can add the remaining marinara
and cheese on top,
and bake from frozen with some extra time.
If you're freezing this, though,
don't use a ceramic container,
because, one, it'll be in the freezer for so long,
you need to use it.
And two, thermal shock could cause it to crack
when it goes into the oven from frozen.
I'm gonna spoon over about a cup of my marinara.
And I want to just dazzle the shells with some more sauce.
On top of this,
I'm adding a sprinkle of the remaining cup of mozzarella,
about 1/4 cup of that reserved Parmesan.
It's snowing cheese, and I love it.
Loosely cover with foil.
This goes into the oven, 375 for 20 minutes,
then 15 minutes uncovered.
Let them cool down just a bit.
And then, once out of the oven,
sprinkle the reserved parsley on,
and they're ready to enjoy.
That is delicious.
The ricotta and all the other cheeses
make it just so comforting but still light.
And it has a kiss of herbs
and all the acid from that marinara
cradled in beautiful pasta shells.
I hope you get a chance to make this recipe.
And if you like this video,
check out my easy dinner playlist.