These are my scrumptious, tacky stuffed shells with spinach, mushrooms, and tomatoes! This recipe is vegetarian, freezer-friendly, and an ideal simple weeknight dinner for the entire household.
Stuffed shells are the perfect consolation meals dinner, and these ones are SO simple to make! Baked till browned and bubbly, my stuffed shells with spinach, mushrooms, and tomatoes are good for weeknight dinners. I all the time referred to as these “stuffed shells Florentine”, after rooster Florentine, since they’re loaded with spinach and topped with cheese. I make the filling from scratch, and it’s very a lot a type of recipes that you could adapt with additional substances from the fridge.
Tacky Stuffed Shells With Spinach, At a Look
- Sufficient to feed a small military. The recipe makes numerous filling, sufficient to stuff about 20 jumbo shells. It’s sufficient to feed a household (with leftovers!), and it makes this an awesome potluck dish, too.
- Sneaky veggies. Like my spinach lasagna, baked stuffed shells smothered in cheese are a straightforward approach to embody greens in our weekly pasta night time. The shells are filled with spinach, garlic, meaty mushrooms, and juicy tomatoes on a mattress of savory marinara sauce.
- Simple to make. These stuffed shells with spinach are prepared in below an hour. Boil the pasta shells whilst you put together the filling, then stuff the shells and bake. I additionally embody make-ahead instructions so you may freeze your stuffed shells for a future last-minute dinner.
Collect Your Substances
- Jumbo Pasta Shells – Additionally referred to as conchiglioni in Italian. This may be your favourite model. Barilla, Ronzoni, and DeLallo all make jumbo shells, or you need to use a retailer model, like Walmart or Goal.
- Butter – For sautéeing the mushrooms. I a lot choose butter over oil when cooking mushrooms, as they have a tendency to absorb no matter they’re sautéed in. Butter provides taste!
- Mushrooms – Any variety. Brown and white mushrooms, Child Bellas, oyster mushrooms, or shiitakes are good choices.
- Garlic – Freshly minced, or you need to use ½ teaspoon of garlic powder instead of every clove. Finely diced yellow onion would additionally work on this recipe.
- Canned Tomatoes – Canned diced tomatoes, drained. Strive fire-roasted tomatoes for a smokier taste.
- Child Spinach – I like to make use of recent spinach. For those who’re utilizing frozen spinach, be sure you thaw it absolutely and drain the surplus liquid. You can too use chopped Swiss chard or kale.
- Herbs – Italian seasoning and dried basil. Be happy to swap dried basil for recent; on this case, you’ll want about 3 instances as a lot recent.
- Marinara Sauce – Select your most popular jar of marinara sauce or tomato sauce. When you have a home made recipe, that may work, too!
- Mozzarella Cheese – Freshly shredded mozzarella is greatest. One other melty cheese, like provolone or cheddar, additionally works properly. You can too use a gentle cheese, like Italian ricotta.
Fast Variations
Recipe Ideas
- Substitute the mushrooms. For those who dislike mushrooms, you may depart them out or substitute floor meat, similar to beef, rooster, or pork. An alternative choice is use cooked, shredded rotisserie rooster.
- Thaw frozen spinach first. For those who’re utilizing frozen spinach as an alternative of recent, it’s tremendous essential to thaw it fully and squeeze out any extra liquid earlier than you add it to the filling. If the spinach is watery, your shells will likely be soggy.
- Use freshly shredded cheese. For those who’ve ever puzzled why pre-shredded, packaged cheese doesn’t soften as easily as freshly shredded cheese, it’s as a result of it has a waxy coating that stops it. Shred the mozzarella recent from the block for the perfect outcomes.
- Don’t overcook the pasta. I recommend leaving your jumbo shells barely undercooked to begin, since they’ll end cooking within the oven. Overcooking makes the shells fragile and mushy.
- For extra flavorful pasta shells, add 2-3 tablespoons of desk salt to the water earlier than you boil your pasta. Salted water is the important thing to well-seasoned pasta.
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Prep. Preheat oven to 350ºF.
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Prepare dinner the pasta shells. Prepare dinner the jumbo shells in boiling water for 8 minutes, or till al dente. DO NOT overcook as a result of they’ll tear and disintegrate.
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Sauté. In a big skillet, soften 1/2 tablespoon butter over medium-high warmth. Add sliced mushrooms and prepare dinner for five minutes. Stir in garlic; add remaining butter, and proceed to prepare dinner for 1 minute.
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Make the filling. Add in drained tomatoes. Season with salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, and basil; deliver to a simmer.
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Stir within the spinach. Since we’re utilizing numerous spinach, it would be best to prepare dinner it in batches. As quickly as one batch is cooked down, add the subsequent (I break it up into 3 batches). Take away from warmth. Style for seasonings and modify accordingly.
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Stuff the shells. Drain shells and rinse with chilly water; pat dry with paper towels. Unfold 1 cup of marinara sauce on the underside of a 9×13 baking dish. Stuff every shell with the spinach combination and prepare over the marinara sauce within the baking dish.
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Prime with cheese and bake. Sprinkle the stuffed shells with shredded mozzarella cheese. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or till bubbly. Take away from oven, garnish with parsley, and serve.
- Put together every thing as much as the purpose of baking. DO NOT bake.
- Let cool and canopy tightly with plastic wrap and once more with foil. Freeze for as much as 3 months.
- When able to bake, take away foil and plastic cowl; bake at 350 for 45 minutes, or till bubbly and barely browned on high.
Energy: 368kcal | Carbohydrates: 56g | Protein: 18g | Fats: 9g | Saturated Fats: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fats: 1g | Monounsaturated Fats: 2g | Trans Fats: 0.1g | Ldl cholesterol: 23mg | Sodium: 797mg | Potassium: 857mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 4998IU | Vitamin C: 29mg | Calcium: 317mg | Iron: 4mg
Dietary information is an estimate and supplied as courtesy. Values might fluctuate in response to the substances and instruments used. Please use your most popular dietary calculator for extra detailed information.
How you can Make Stuffed Shells
Comply with the steps beneath to organize tacky spinach stuffed shells with mushrooms and tomatoes. First, you’ll fill the pasta shells, then you definately’ll bake them below a blanket of mozzarella cheese.
- Prepare dinner the pasta shells. First, boil the pasta shells in response to the package deal instructions, simply in need of al dente. The shells are simpler to stuff, they usually’ll proceed to prepare dinner whereas they bake.
- Sauté the mushrooms. Sauté the mushrooms with butter over medium-high warmth. After a couple of minutes, stir within the garlic and slightly extra butter.
- Make the filling. Add the drained canned tomatoes to the skillet with the mushrooms. Then, add the seasonings. Deliver the pan to a simmer, and stir within the spinach in batches. As quickly as one batch cooks down, add the subsequent.
- Put together the shells. Drain after which rinse the pasta shells with chilly water, and pat them dry with paper towels.
- Assemble. Unfold about 1 cup of marinara sauce into the underside of a 9×13-inch baking dish. Then, fill the shells with the spinach combination and place them on high of the marinara sauce. Lastly, sprinkle over a layer of shredded mozzarella.
- Bake. Bake the stuffed shells at 350ºF for 20-25 minutes. When the cheese is bubbly, take the shells out of the oven and garnish with recent parsley for serving.
Make It Forward
These stuffed shells freeze properly, making them a beautiful dinner to organize upfront. To prep these shells for freezing:
- While you’re able to bake, take away the foil and plastic wrap. Bake the stuffed shells from frozen at 350ºF for 45 to 50 minutes, or till bubbly and barely browned on high.
- Put together and assemble the stuffed shells within the baking dish, however DO NOT bake.
- Permit the dish to chill fully. Afterward, cowl the shells tightly with plastic wrap, then with foil. Freeze for as much as 3 months.
Storing and Reheating Leftovers
- Refrigerate. The baked stuffed shells might be saved hermetic within the fridge for as much as 4 days.
- Reheat. Heat up leftovers within the microwave, or you may reheat the shells within the oven.
