There is a restaurant here in Denver called Buca Di Beppo. One of their best dishes is Spicy Stuffed Shells. I have been wanting to try to find a recipe that approximated it. I got a card in the mail this week with a stuffed shells recipe. I decided to try it. Upon closer inspection I knew the recipe wouldn't do. It had no garlic, only a 1/2 teaspoon of garlic and carrots in it. So I decided to just try to recreate it on my own. It worked and was a hit! The kids loved it in fact they were asking for the leftovers for breakfast. This recipe makes a lot so be prepared to freeze some of it for a future meal.
1 lb Italian sausage (turkey or pork)
1 box of large pasta shells
1 32 oz carton of low fat Ricotta cheese
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
12 oz frozen spinach with the water squeezed out
4 cloves garlic minced
2 cups Italian blend shredded cheese
1/2 tablespoon crushed red pepper (chili pequin)
2 quarts of your favorite pasta sauce
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees
1. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to boil. Add the shells and cook for 15 minutes. The shells will not be done completely. Drain the shells and run cold water over them.
2. Put a large frying pan over medium heat, add the sausage and crushed red peppers (depending how spicy you want it you can use as little or as much red pepper as you desire) and cook sausage thoroughly, breaking into very small pieces.
3. In a large bowl combine the Ricotta cheese the shredded Italian cheese blend, garlic, basil and spinach then mix well.
4. Place 1/2 cup cup of pasta sauce into a 9x13 inch baking dish. With a spoon coat the bottom of the pan with the pasta sauce.
5. Take each pasta shell individually and stuff with the cheese mixture, it will take approximately 3-4 tablespoons of the mixture for each shell. Lay the shells into the pan coated with sauce, open side up. Continue until the baking dish if full. Pour what remains of the first quart of pasta sauce over the top of the shells. You will have enough ingredients to fill another pan so repeat the above steps.
6. Cover each baking dish in foil and place into the oven. Bake for 30 minutes.
9 comments:
I'm going to try this one this week.
It is really 2 quarts or just 2 big bottles?
Hi! My name is Michael and I am from Indianapolis. I was searching the web for this exact recipe and I was disappointed not to find one, but after a little more searching I stumbled across your blog... Wonderful! I tried the recipe last night for me and my girlfriend, and it turned out perfect, it was delicious, and you are exactly right... it is VERY close to the dish at Buca. I did make a few minor changes, that I will share for your reference... I am sure the recipe would have been terrific with or without the alterations. I decided to use fresh spinach (not frozen), added in some chopped italian parsley, and upped the garlic a clove or so. Great directions... I honestly used the food processor for most of the work. I first chopped the spinach, parsley, and garlic together, in the processor. Then threw the Ricotta right into the food processor, with it, this made a nice fine mixture. I then tossed that and the browned sausage into the the Kitchenaid mixer and allowed that to mix for a good while, dropping in red pepper flakes occasionally. This made for a really nice filling. I also used some homemade sauce... Ugh, delicious! I just had some left over for lunch and have the second pan for a dinner party this weekend! Thanks so much for the recipe! With your permission I would love to post it on my blog! Thanks again, after this recipe consider me a subscriber!
Great idea to use the food processor! Feel free to share this recipe on your blog.
Peggy I think it is just two big bottles.
This is a nice stuffed shells recipe that tastes really good; but it is not like the Buca di Beppo one. If one remembers correctly the Buca stuffed shells are more meat than cheese. This recipe has way more cheese than meat, causing it to be a gooey mess of goodness. But if you want the recipe to be like the Buca one, double the meat and cut the cheese by at least half.
This recipe makes (2) 13" x 9" pans. If anyone is looking to make less of this, definitely cut the recipe in half to make (1) 13" x 9" pan. Again, if you're wanting it to have a majority of sausage like the Buca recipe, use twice the amount of meat and only use enough cheese for it to act as a nice binding agent. Say... 1/4 to 1/3 of the suggested amount. Luckily it's something you can eyeball without screwing up the recipe.
This sounds delicious!
This sounds delicious!
Hi, I read the recipe 3 times and I don't see what you do with the sausage. Does it get added into cheese mixture?
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