Ricotta and Spinach Pasta Shells

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Stuffed pasta is easy to make - a little bit time consuming, but well worth it as you can make it in advance, and bake when needed. It’s easy to make from cupboard ingredients, frozen spinach, pasta sauce from a jar, ricotta and a large handful or two of cheese. I had some milk leftover this week so made a quick ricotta, but you can use store bought as well.

Ricotta is easy to make, heat 1 litre of milk until almost boiling, remove from the heat, stir in 2 tablespoons of white vinegar for a minute or two until it curdles, let it stand for 30 minutes and very carefully scoop out the cheese with a slotted spoon. You can use it in both savoury and sweet dishes, and I made it with low-fat milk, it doesn’t have to be full-fat (though this is a creamier option).

Mix the ricotta with spinach and cheese, stuff shells or cannelloni or use between layers of lasagne and you are good to go.

Enjoy and

Happy Cooking

gill

Ricotta and Spinach Shells

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  • 1 cup ricotta

  • 1/2 cup parmesan

  • 1 cup cheddar cheese

  • 1/2 cup mozzarella

  • 250 grams frozen spinach, defrosted, drained and squeezed dry

  • 2 cloves of garlic, minced

  • 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

  • 1 large egg, beaten lightly

  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

  • freshly grated black pepper

  • 40 large pasta shells (note this mixture will also fill 12 cannelloni shells)

  • 1 1/2 cups home-made or store bought pasta sauce

Method

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees celsius (350 degrees fahrenheit).

  2. Cook the pasta shells for about 10 minutes in boiling water until not quite cooked, they will still be quite firm, they’ll cook further in the oven.

  3. Combine the ricotta cheese, parmesan, cheddar, egg, garlic, nutmeg and spinach in a bowl, season with salt and pepper.

  4. Spread 1 cup of the tomato sauce on the bottom of an oven dish. Fill each shell with the ricotta mixture and place on top of the tomato sauce. Sprinkle the remaining pasta sauce in-between and on the pasta shells and topped with the mozzarella cheese.

  5. Bake at 180° Celsius (350° Fahrenheit) for 20 to 25 minutes until pasta is soft, and cheese is melted and golden. If it starts to get too brown during the cooking process, cover with tinfoil.