Ricotta Stuffed Shells with Roasted Tomato Sauce
A traditional ricotta stuffed shell with a flavorful, homemade roasted tomato sauce- made from fresh summer tomatoes.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: Main Course
Ingredients
Scale
Roasted Tomato Sauce
- 3 cups grape tomatoes
- 1/2 medium white onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1/2 cup loosely packed fresh basil
Pasta and Filling
- 8 oz large conchiglioni shells (see note)
- 16 oz whole milk ricotta cheese (1 container)
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup shredded gouda
- 1/2 cup shredded fontina
- 2 teaspoons oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- Basil (cut chiffonade for topping)
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 425˚ F. Toss tomatoes with chopped onion, chopped garlic and olive oil. Place in oven and bake for 30-35 minutes until tomatoes are tender and starting to pop. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes.
- Place roasted tomatoes in a food processor and add in basil. Pulse until the everything is well mixed. This can be made a day ahead of time if need be.
- Reduce oven temperature to 375˚. Cook pasta according to box, drain, and set aside.
- While pasta is cooking, in a medium bowl combine the ricotta cheese and egg, stirring until well combined. Add in cheese oregano, salt, and pepper.
- Grab a 9x9 square pan or a similar sized baking dish and place 1/3 of the tomato sauce on the bottom of the pan. Take the slightly cooled pasta and spoon ricotta mixture into the center of each shell, roughly 2 to 3 tablespoons. Place open side up in the pan and continue until all the shells are full and in the pan. Sprinkle with cheese then spread remaining sauce over the stuffed shells (or reverse this and finish with cheese if wanting the cheese layer on top.
- Bake for 20-30 minutes until sauce is starting to bubble. Remove from oven and sprinkle with basil to serve.
Notes
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.
Nutrition
- Calories: 476
- Sugar: 10.6
- Sodium: 848
- Fat: 16.2
- Carbohydrates: 16.2
- Fiber: 2.6
- Protein: 16.8
- Cholesterol: 51.7