Vegetable Stuffed Shells
Ready in a little over an hour, the crowd pleasing vegetable, spinach and mushroom stuffed shell recipe is the perfect cozy dinner for the family, friends or when you want to impress.
All About Vegetable Stuffed Shells:
These hearty stuffed shells are the perfect dinner for when you want something warm, creamy and filling, but not too heavy. This version is vegetarian, but to make it more hearty, feel free to add beef, sausage or whatever you like to the sauce. I take store bought marinara and jazz it up with foamy butter, red pepper flakes, oregano and garlic. Stuff jumbo shells with sautéed mushrooms, spinach, and ricotta. So yummy.
I made this recipe super simple so you can have dinner on the table in about an hour.
Ingredients in Vegetable Stuffed Shells:
- jumbo pasta shells
- frozen spinach
- mushrooms
- garlic
- fresh oregano
- whole milk ricotta cheese
- Romano cheese
- butter
- 1 egg
- marinara sauce
- salt, pepper, nutmeg
- white wine
- panko bread crumbs
- mild sage sausage or ground beef- optional
Why this recipe is so special:
- Spice up a store bought marinara with herbs and red pepper flakes. I occasionaly added mild sage sausage to please the hearty appetites in my home.
- Most of the ingredients can be found in your pantry or freezer.
- These vegetable stuffed shells can be whipped up in about an hour- including a quick 20 minute bake.
- Serve with crusty bread, a fresh salad and a bottle of wine for a cozy warm dinner.
- This recipe is very versatile: add onions, sautéed peppers, zucchini or even roasted eggplant to mix up the filling.
Common Questions:
Brown the sausage before you warm up the marinara, drain the fat, and then proceed to step number 7.
Place in a glass container with a tight fitting lid and pop in the fridge. To warm up, place the shells and sauce in an over-proof dish, cover with foil and heat in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes or until the shells reach 145 degrees.
Parmesan cheese will work fine with this recipe.
No, but you can use gluten-free shells and substitute gluten-free bread crumbs.
No, this recipe contains butter, ricotta and Romano cheese.
Pro-tips for a successful bake:
Other pasta dishes to try:
- Creamy chicken and pasta skillet
- TikTok Feta Pasta
- Bolognese Sauce
- 20 Minute Spicy Shrimp & Soba Noodles
- Roasted Shrimp, Feta and Orzo Greek Salad
- Butternut Squash and Spinach Lasagna
Vegetable Stuffed Shells
Ingredients
- 26 jumbo pasta shells
- 1 TBSP olive oil
- 3 cups chopped mushrooms
- 1 ½ tsp pepper
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- ½ cup white wine
- 10 oz frozen spinach, thawed
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped & divided
- 2 TBSP butter
- 2 tsp chopped oregano
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes
- 15 oz whole milk ricotta
- 5 oz romano cheese, divided
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup panko bread crumbs
- 28 oz Marinara sauce
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Fill a large stock pot with salted water and boil pasta for 8-9 minutes. Do not over cook or they will break while stuffing. Cook a few extra shells because they tear easily.
- Drain pasta and rinse with cold water to stop cooking.
- While shells are boiling, chop your mushrooms and garlic. If needed, place spinach in the microwave on "Defrost" for 1-2 minutes. Squeeze excess water from spinach. Set aside.
- In a large pan, add 1 TBSP olive oil. Sauté mushrooms about 3-4 minutes until browned around the edges. Do not move them often- let the mushrooms sear on the bottom of the pan to allow for browning. Add in TWO of the chopped cloves of garlic. Sauté until fragrant- about 30 seconds. Stir in the 1/2 cup of wine to deglaze the pan slapping up any brown bits. Add in salt, pepper and nutmeg. Add in spinach and cook on medium low until the moisture has completely evaporated. About 2 minutes.
- Set mixture aside in a medium-sized bowl to cool.
- In the same pan over medium low heat, melt the butter until frothy. Stir in the red pepper flakes, oregano and remaining garlic. Stir until spices bloom and butter becomes foamy. Pour in the marinara sauce and heat through about 3 minutes on a very low simmer.
- Pour half of the sauce into a 9 x 13 inch oven-proof dish. Set aside.
- To the cooled mushroom mixture, stir in the ricotta, 4 oz of cheese and egg. Fill the shells with spoonfuls of the spinach mixture and place in the marinara sauce open side up. Spoon the remaining sauce around the shells and drizzle a bit over the tops, but do not completely cover. Sprinkle the entire dish with the remaining cheese and panko.feel free to add more cheese if desired.
- Cover with foil. Bake for 10 minutes at 400 degrees. Remove the foil and bake another 10-15 minutes until the sauce is bubbling and the cheese is golden brown and melted.
