My family just loves these stuffed shells so much. The Italian Sausage is such a fabulous flavor, and it is such a welcomed variety from your typical noodle, ground beef, and tomato recipes. This is a great dish to share with guests, deliver to someone to be kind, or freeze! It makes a lot. I made 3 8×8 dishes with one recipe: brought one to a friend, ate one for dinner, and froze one for a “there’s no way I’m cooking tonight” emergency. I’m thankful for the sweet hospitality of my friend Rachael for first serving me this yummy meal. 🙂

• 12 Oz of Jumbo Pasta Shells
• 1 TBSP Olive Oil
• 1 Cup of Onion, finely chopped
• 1 Lb of Italian Sausage, with no casings
• 3 Cloves of Garlic, minced
• 1 Egg, lightly beaten
• 15 Oz of Ricotta Cheese
• 6 Oz of fresh Spinach, finely chopped
• 1 Cup of freshly grated Parmesan Cheese
• 1 TSP of Dried Basil
• 1/4 Cup of Bread Crumbs
• 28 Oz can of Chopped Tomatoes with Herbs
• Salt & Pepper

1. Cook pasta in a large pot of salted water. Drain. Rinse with cold water, and set aside.
2. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium – high heat. Cook onions in the oil until they are soft. Add the italian sausage, breaking it up into as small of pieces as possible as you cook it. When the sausage is completely cooked through, add the garlic. Remove from heat and set aside.
3. Combine egg, ricotta, chopped spinach, 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese, basal, bread crumbs, and salt and pepper. Stir together. Add the sausage mixture, and then stir again.
4. Spread a little bit of the canned tomatoes (don’t drain the liquid!) into either a 9×13 pan and an 8×8 pan, OR 3 8×8 pans. I used 3 8×8 pans, and an 8×8 pan was 1 meal for us.
5. Stuff each individual shell with some of the sausage mixture. I used my hands and a fork. I was worried that this would be a pain, but it was totally no big deal. The shells really open up when they are cooked and it was not tedious as i expected it to be.
6. Arrange each stuffed noodles in the baking dishes, with the opened side of the noodle facing up. Pour the remaining tomatoes on top of your noodles and cover the pans with tin foil.
7. Bake for 30 minutes at 375.
8. After the 30 minutes, uncover, add the rest of your parmesan cheese, and bake uncovered for 10 more minutes.

This is an adaptation of a recipe on Simply Recipes.