When it comes to summer cooking and summer parties, I am a big fan of making recipes that can easily be multiplied enough to feed a large crowd. This stuffed shell recipe is up there as one of my favorites. Since I posted this recipe in 2011, I've made it for countless parties and get-togethers. It's hearty enough that people don't miss the meat and the homemade tomato sauce is perfect for all those summer tomatoes. Yes, it takes turning on your oven but in my mind, it's well worth it. I've given notes in the recipe but the large shells are not readily available in whole wheat and so if you want a substitute, I recommend brown rice pasta (like these shells) or using rolled up whole wheat lasagana.
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A traditional ricotta stuffed shell with a flavorful, homemade roasted tomato sauce- made from fresh summer tomatoes.
Tips & Tricks: It's impossible to find whole wheat large shells, but you have a few options. You can use the regular shells (which I did for photos), some companies have brown rice shells, or use store-bought or homemade whole wheat lasagna noodles rolled up.
Don't want to buy extra cheese? I'll occasionally use just mozzarella if that's all I have in the refrigerator.
Stock up: get the pantry ingredients you will need: tomatoes, basil, pasta
Nutrition: see the information.
I like to keep the ricotta filling fairly simple but there are easy ways to dress up this pasta dish. Also, you can easily use jarred tomato sauce but this homemade tomato sauce has much more flavor (and can also be used on pizza or to top spaghetti).
Tomatoes: I like the sweeter grape and cherry tomatoes for the sauce because it requires no cutting. However, plum or the meatier types of roma tomatoes also make for a nice sauce. It's hard to go wrong with a sauce for these stuffed shells.
Greens: I love adding just-barely wilted greens to the ricotta mixture. Try spinach, chard, or kale wilted with a bit of olive oil.
Squash: Similar to the greens, roast finely diced zucchini and/or summer squash when you have the oven on to make the tomato sauce then add the cooked squash to the ricotta filling. I'll occasionally do a couple cups of squash and take out some of the ricotta to reduce the amount of cheese I'm using.
While I pair this roasted tomato sauce recipe with the stuffed shells, I'm constantly making it throughout the summer to use on pizza and other pasta dishes (it works really well with lentil bites)! I recommend making up a big batch of roasted tomatoes so that you only have to turn your oven on occasionally. Also, if you have a good balsamic vinegar in your kitchen, I'll occasionally add a splash to the pureed sauce.
Einkorn Gnocchi with Roasted Tomato Sauce
Homemade Whole Wheat Pasta
Olive Pizza with Tomato Sauce
First published on August 10th, 2011. Last updated on June 12th, 2016.
I've just eaten something similar, delicoius 🙂
http://kulinarneigraszki-kk.blogspot.com/2011/08/conchiglie-nadziewane-serkiem-capri.html
MMMM I need to try my hand at a roasted tomato sauce. Hopefully my tomatoes will start turning red.
I did make stuffed shells the other day... only I was bad and battered and fried them (hey I was frying up stuffed zucchini flowers so I thought why not?). They were darn good but not too healthy LOL.
http://tiraandlannatakeoverutah.blogspot.com/2011/08/attack-of-zucchini.html
I hope it's ok I made your gallete last night and I'm blogging about it, but I'll definitely link back to here.
That's great! I hope you liked the galette!
Last year was my first year roasting the tomatoes to make tomato sauce and jaring them for the winter. You can really tell the difference.
This looks absolutely fantastic. I just saw some jumbo shells at the store the other day and thought, I should make those sometime.... I can't wait to try this!
Oh this sounds so good - and definitely love the idea of freezing it for later =)
Good thing we got some cherry tomatoes in our CSA as well this week!
I need to try this. looks delicious. Love your photos.
★★★★
That looks delicious. I'd love to come home to that in the oven after a long day at work!
I just made this and it was really good. I mean realllllly good.
★★★★★
I roast tomatoes all summer to eat on baguettes or just as a snack, but actually never thought to purée them for sauce!
Do you mix the 2 cheeses with the ricotta mixture, or are they for sprinkling? Sorry, wasn't sure about this. Thanks! Looks great!
Sprinkle (but you can always mix a bit in if you like!)