These are wonderful vegetarian stuffed shells. I love pasta and cheese but sometimes I do not want meat along with it.  I play with other ingredients instead and spinach and mushrooms work well together for this recipe. 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)
• 150 gr mushrooms (about 5.3 oz)
• 1 clove minced garlic
• 150 gr spinach (about 5.3 oz)
• 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 like to cook the mushrooms with the garlic and then the spinach and set them aside first.

• Slice the mushrooms and mince one clove of garlic.
• Drizzle a little olive oil in a skillet and set heat to medium high. Add the 150 gr of mushrooms and salt and pepper to taste and stir. Once they start browning, add the minced garlic. Stir until the mushrooms are browned on the outsides and remove them from the heat.  I like to cook the mushrooms on a higher heat. If you cook mushrooms on too low of a heat they will steam and boil in their own moisture instead of browning as well on the outside. They taste much better cooked at a higher temperature.
• Remove mushrooms and garlic from the pan and set aside to cool.
• Using the same skillet, add a little more olive oil as needed and saute the spinach in batches on medium heat. You can use any spinach. I used baby spinach and it worked great. I don’t chop it too much until after it has cooked. It looks like a lot of spinach but it will really shrink down once it is cooked. Set aside the spinach as you go. Once all the spinach is set aside just let it 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 together.

• Once your shells are cooked, drain and rinse them with cold water so you can handle them.
• Chop the cooked mushroom and spinach finely and stir these into the cheese mixture.

• 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 and lay them cheese 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 and just starting to bubble and brown around the edges.

• (optional) Serve with a little fresh basil or parsley chopped and sprinkled on top.

• Enjoy!