Mom's Italian Baked Stuffed Shells

 Mom's Italian Baked Stuffed Shells

Yield: 36

Author: Claudia Lamascolo

PREP TIME: 25 MIN

COOK TIME: 20 MIN

TOTAL TIME: 45 MIN

These are jumbo pasta shells with ricotta cheese filling in each one. Then baked topped with homemade Italian tomato sauce and lots of melted mozzarella cheese.

INGREDIENTS

2 boxes of Jumbo Shell Pasta (around 36) cooked al dente to package instructions

Filling:

3 extra-large eggs

2  - 15 ounce containers of Whole Milk Ricotta Cheese

1/2 cup shredded whole milk mozzarella and (2 cups for the top for baking)

1/4 cup Pecorino Romano grated cheese

2 tablespoons freshly chopped Italian basil

4 tablespoon freshly chopped Italian parsley

1 tablespoon finely minced garlic

salt and pepper to taste ( I usually add around 1 teaspoon each)

4 -  Cups Homemade Traditional Sunday Meat Sauce  (or use your favorite store-bought)

INSTRUCTIONS

Bring an 8 to an 11-quart pot of water to a boil adding  2 teaspoons of salt.

Add the shells, cook al dente to package instructions.

Drain do not rinse.

In the meantime mix all the ingredients for just the filling and set aside.

Cool shells long enough to handle them or very gently lift each one with a large spoon then open to fill.

Fill each shell with ricotta filling.

In a large deep baking casserole dish, add some tomato sauce to cover the bottom of the dish,

Place the filled shells on the sauce, add more sauce to the top of each shell.

Cover the tops of the shells generously with whole milk mozzarella (the 2 cups of more remaining in the ingredients section).

Bake in a 350 degree preheated oven until the cheese is just melted around 20 minutes.

Serve with garlic bread and antipasto if desired.