We don’t eat a lot of pasta based meals (to my chagrin) due to dietary restrictions, but stuffed shells and meatballs is one of our favorites, after spaghetti and meatballs. I tend to make a lot of stuffed shells at once, and then freeze a couple meals worth.
This time around I had a bag of “jumbo” shells from Walmart. They are really jumbo shells, in my opinion, bu they did work great. I had a 28 oz bag and used about 3/4 of it. Shells are parboiled to soften them to work with, but not totally cooked through. Then I spread out on a baking sheet to let them cool, so I can handle them without burned fingers. The final cooking in sauce will finish them off.
I can stuff them in advance of dinner and refrigerate the pan until I’m ready. Since I am make 3-4 dozen stuffed shells, I divide them into 3 pans at the start. 2 pans will go into the freezer for other dinners (or to give away to a senior friend who needs easy to make meals). Each casserole (in a pie plate or aluminum tin) will feed 3-4 people, depending on how hungry everyone is!
Today I used a simple cheese mixture to stuff them with, since I am making meatballs separately. Sometimes I put ground meat or sausage right into the cheese. Ricotta is the base, with a little cream cheese and some Parmesan as well, and a bunch of seasonings. A gallon zip lock bag turns into an impromptu pastry bag to squirt the cheese into the shells – so much easier than trying to use a spoon! But it doesn’t work as readily if there are chunks of meat in it, or I end up cutting a much larger corner off.
Jarred sauce keeps it simple – but feel free to make your own marinara. I generally use a simple marinara, but any jarred spaghetti sauce will work.
The meatballs are simple, but large – 6 to a pound of meat. And finish cooking off in a little sauce in the oven along with the shells. Frozen casseroles either need to be defrosted prior to baking, or plan to bake about twice as long as unfrozen.
Cook the shells
I start the shells first and cook for about 3/4 of the time suggested on the box. By the time they are done I have the cheese filling ingredients ready to go. I spread the shells out on a sheet pan to cool.
Make cheese filling
All I use is a very large bowl and a wooden spoon to mix everything together. Eggs helps bind the cheeses, and a little grated nutmeg goes into any pasta dish I make. Parsley (or Italian herbs) along with garlic and onion powder add more flavor.
Mix until all is combined. It will be a cohesive soft consistency, easily spreadable or squeezed through a bag.
Prepare the pans and stuff the shells
Put a little sauce into each casserole or dish and spread around to cover the bottom. As each shell is filled with cheese, place it right into a pan. Once all the shells are filled, cover with sauce, and grated mozzarella. And all set now bake, refrigerate and bake later, or freeze for the future. I cover with aluminum foil to bake, as I don’t like browned, too crusty cheese on top. When freezing, wrap well with foil or a combination of plastic wrap and then foil; seal well.
Mix the Meatballs
I usually use a pound of ground beef, but of course ground turkey will work, or a mix of meats like beef and pork (as for meatloaf). For breadcrumbs, soft crumbs work best. I always whir up stale or bread crusts in a food processor and keep them in the freezer. So anytime I need soft crumbs I just pull the bag out of the freezer. However, store bought bread crumbs will also work just fine. The cheese taste is echoed in the meatballs with grated Parmesan mixed in along with the herbs and seasonings. After I made them today, I thought to myself, a couple tablespoons of red wine would go nicely in these! Next time.
I rolls the meat into 6 large meatballs.
All of this can be done ahead of time during the day, then just pop the meatballs and stuffed shells into the oven in the evening or the next day. I leave the foil on for most of the cooking time, and then take it off, add more mozzarella if I deem it necessary, and pop back into the oven to melt the cheese.
Serve with a salad and a loaf of warmed up crusty bread. What a meal!
3 Cheese Stuffed Shells and Meatballs
Make dinner tonight and 2 future meals all at once! Serve with crusty bread and a salad for a easy delicious meal. Serves 3-4 people per baking dish.
Ingredients
Stuffed Shells
- 1 12 oz pkg dried large/jumbo shells (12 oz Great Value) or your preferred shell
- 1 32oz` ricotta cheese
- 2 oz cream cheese
- 2 eggs
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1/2 tsp each garlic and onion powder
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg fresh grated preferred
- 2 tbsp dried parsley or Italian herb mix
- 2 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
Meatballs
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 egg
- 1/2 tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp onion powder
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan Reggiano
- ½ cup bread crumbs
- ¼ cup milk
- 1 tsp Italian herb mix
Instructions
Stuffed shells
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Par boil the shells until softened but not all the way to al dente. Once boiled, drain, and spread onto a cookie sheet to cool.
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Prepare 3 pie pans with 1/3 – 1/2 cup of sauce spread into the bottom of each.
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Put the ricotta into a large bowl. Cut or pull apart the cream cheese into small bits. Add the eggs and all seasonings. Stir to combine. Place into a gallon plastic bag with a corner cut off.
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Squeeze the air out of the bag, and push until the cheese mix starts to exude out the corner. Fill each shell and place into the prepared pans.
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Cover with the rest of the sauce.
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Sprinkle with mozzarella.
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Cover with foil and bake 350F for 45 minutes. Remove foil during the last 5-10 minutes. Add more cheese if desired.
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To freeze, stop here and wrap well with foil. To bake, remove and thaw overnight, or put into the oven directly, but bake for 1.5 hours until hot and bubbly.
Meatballs
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Mix all ingredients together and form into meatballs. The meat should be soft, so add more milk if the balls don't roll into balls, or more bread crumbs if too wet. Make them no larger than 2” in diameter. 1 pound of meat makes 6 large meatballs.
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Place onto a baking sheet. Bake 350F for 20 minutes. Place into sauce in a large saucepan and simmer for 10 minutes. Serve with the shells.
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Alternatively, place meatballs in a small baking dish, and cover with sauce, then return to the oven for 10 minutes.
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Meatballs can be made in advance and frozen.
Merry Christmas, Sally! Adding cream cheese to the shell filling is yummily inspirational. Thanks for that & all the ideas you give us readers all year long. Monica
Thank Monica!! How nice to hear from you. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!