Best Meatball Ricotta Stuffed Shells Recipes

MEATBALL-STUFFED SHELLS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 400°F.
• Spread half the pasta sauce onto bottom of 8-inch square baking dish sprayed with cooking spray.
• Combine ricotta, Parmesan, Italian seasoning and 1/2 cup mozzarella; spoon into pasta shells.
• Add 2 meatballs to filling in each shell; place, filled sides up, in prepared baking dish. Top with remaining pasta sauce; cover.
• Bake 25 min. or until heated through. Top with remaining mozzarella; bake, uncovered, 3 to 5 min. or until melted. Sprinkle with parsley.

RICOTTA-STUFFED SHELLS WITH PESTO

Steps:

• Put a large pot of well-salted water over high heat, and bring to a boil. Add the pasta shells, put the lid on the pot to help water return to a boil, then remove lid, stir pasta and continue cooking, uncovered until al dente, usually abut 10 minutes. (It's better to err on the undercooked side than risk flabby pasta, so check early and often.)
• Remove pasta from pot and cool in a large bowl of water. Drain well and spread cooked shells on a baking sheet lined with a kitchen towel.
• Meanwhile, make the ricotta filling: In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta, eggs, scallions, parsley, thyme, lemon zest and juice, and crushed red pepper to taste. Add grated Parmesan and pecorino. Season well with salt and pepper and mix well to incorporate ingredients. Taste and adjust seasoning.
• Heat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly oil a large shallow baking dish (use 2 dishes if necessary). Using a spoon or pastry bag, put about 1 tablespoon ricotta mixture into each pasta shell. Arrange the filled shells in one layer in the baking dish, packed closely together. Drizzle surface lightly with olive oil, or use a small brush to lightly paint each shell.
• Sprinkle top with 1/4 cup pecorino and bread crumbs and bake, uncovered, for about 20 minutes, until heated through, crisp and golden brown.
• To make the pesto, pulse basil, parsley, garlic and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a blender or food processor until roughly chopped. Add oil slowly and blend well. Add a little pepper, taste and adjust seasoning and transfer to a serving bowl.
• To serve, drizzle shells with a little pesto sauce and pass the rest at the table.

CHEF JOHN'S RICOTTA MEATBALLS

Steps:

• Saute onion in 2 tablespoons olive oil in a skillet over medium heat until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir garlic into onion and turn off heat. Transfer onion mixture to a large mixing bowl.
• Stir ground beef, ricotta cheese, parsley, egg, kosher salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper with onion mixture until almost combined; stir in bread crumbs and continue to mix until thoroughly blended.
• Roll about 2 tablespoons of mixture into a 1-inch ball for each meatball. Pour 2 tablespoons olive oil in same skillet used to cook onions. Place skillet over medium heat and brown meatballs on all sides in hot oil, about 5 minutes. Hold a crumpled paper towel in a tongs and use it to remove excess grease from skillet.
• Pour marinara sauce and water over meatballs in skillet. Stir to combine and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until meatballs are cooked through and no longer pink in the center, about 30 minutes.

MEATBALL STUFFED SHELLS

Steps:

• Cook pasta according to package directions; drain and rinse in cold water. Place 1/2 cup sauce in a greased 13 x 9 inch baking dish.
• Place a meatball in each shell; transfer to baking dish. Top with remaining sauce and sprinkle with cheese.
• Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. Uncover; and bake 5-10 more minutes or until bubbly and cheese is melted.

MEATBALL & RICOTTA STUFFED SHELLS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350.
• Spray a 9x13 baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.
• Boil the jumbo pasta shells according to the package directions.
• Drain and rinse shells with cool water.
• Add one spoonful of ricotta cheese and then one meatball to each shell.
• Place the stuffed shells in the baking pan.
• Top each shell with a spoonful of marinara sauce and a few shreds of mozzarella cheese.
• Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes.