While my favorite stuffed shells have spinach and mushrooms in them, the rest of my family loves the shells without the veggies and with meat instead. I’ll admit, these are really good too.

I made 20 shells with this recipe but the amount will vary depending on the size of shells you use.

Ingredients

• 170-180 grams pasta shells (medium sized) 6 – 6 1/2 oz
• olive oil
• 250 gr Ricotta cheese (about 8.8 oz)
• 1/2 pound (about 225 grams) ground beef or your favorite meat of choice – ground turkey or ground pork
• 1 clove minced garlic and 1/4 onion chopped (optional)
• 1 jar good pasta sauce
• 1 medium egg
• (220 total grams shredded mozzarella split)  100 grams shredded mozzarella (about 3.5 oz) / later another 120 grams mozzarella (4.25 oz)
• (100 total grams freshly shredded parmesan romano – split) 60 grams  parmesan romano (about 2.10 oz) / later another 40 grams parmesan romano (about 1.4 oz)
• fresh basil or parsley for garnish
• salt and pepper to taste

Method

I have garlic and onion listed as optional because while I like to season my meat with both of these as I cook it, my children can immediately sense the onion and stop eating their meal. If I were just making this for my husband and myself then I would add the extra flavor. When I’m making it for my whole family a little less seasoning seems to work best. Prepare your meat whichever way you like it best.

• Chop about 1/4 of a small or medium onion and mince one clove of garlic
• Add 1/2 pound ground beef to a skillet and cook over medium to medium high heat. Salt and pepper to taste. Optional – add in minced garlic and chopped onion.
• Once fully cooked, remove skillet from the stove. Drain if needed and set aside to cool.
• Cook the shells according to the package directions. Try to cook them al dente. If the package states 10-12 minutes then go for the 10 minutes. They will continue to soften some in the oven with the cheese and sauce. It will be hard to fill them if they are too soft or overcooked. I used around 180 grams of pasta. Pasta shells come in all different sizes. Mine were around 8-9 grams per shell and this recipe made 20 stuffed shells. If you are using bigger or smaller shells, the yield will vary some.
• While your shells are cooking add the ricotta cheese and egg to a small mixing bowl. Stir the egg into the ricotta until well mixed.

• Add 100 grams of shredded mozzarella and 60 grams shredded parmesan romano to the ricotta cheese and stir them together.

• Once your shells are cooked, drain and rinse them with cold water so you can easily handle them.
• Preheat your oven to 190 C or 375 F.
• Spoon a small layer of pasta sauce into a casserole pan where you will be laying the shells.
• Using a spoon, fill the shells with the cheese mixture about 3/4 of the way to the top. Add a layer of ground beef on the top of the cheese and lay them meat side up in the pan.
• Once all the shells are filled, spoon sauce over each shell covering the tops completely.

• Sprinkle the remaining 120 grams of mozzarella and 40 grams parmesan romano evenly over the top of the shells.

• Bake for 20-25 minutes. The cheese should be nicely melted over the top.

• (Optional) add a sprinkle of freshly chopped basil or parsley over the top of the finished shells.
• Enjoy!