fine dining experience

Cheese Stuffed Shells

These Cheese Stuffed Shells are made with ricotta, mozzarella and parmesan cheese; and baked in a marinara sauce. It's an easy weekday family friendly meal!

Ingredients

  • Jumbo Pasta Shells: These extra-large shells are perfect for holding the delicious mix of cheeses used in this recipe. 
  • Ricotta Cheese: This classic staple of so many Italian dishes is rich and creamy, creating a wonderful base for the cheese filling. 
  • Kaltbach Le Cremeux Cheese: This cave-aged, alpine-style cheese from Switzerland adds an earthy flavor as parmesan does but with more depth and a nutty woodiness. 
  • Eggs: Adding egg to your cheese mixture helps bind the cheeses together, ensuring the mixture stays inside the shells where it belongs. 
  • Italian Seasoning, Salt, and Pepper: Italian seasoning adds classic flavor to the cheese, and salt and pepper enhance that flavor even further. 
  • Marinara Sauce: This classic sauce is the perfect backdrop for the cheese filling and al dente shells. 

Directions

COOK THE SHELLS

Start by cooking the pasta shells a little shy of al dente. For me that was about 8 minutes. Then, immediately drain the pasta, rinse with cold water and place the pasta in an oven-safe baking dish filled with half the marinara sauce. Placing the shells right into the sauce helps them from sticking together while you stuff them. This is the shells before cooking.

MIX THE CHEESE FILLING

Ideally, while you’re cooking the pasta shells, you’ll mix the ingredients for the cheese stuffing. That includes ricotta, mozzarella cheese,  Kaltbach™ cheese, an egg, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper.

PUT IT ALL TOGETHER

Now you’re ready to stuff the cooked shells with the cheese mixture. After you finish stuffing the 12 shells, add dollops of the remaining sauce on top, add some extra cheese and bake it in the preheated oven. You’ll know these cheese stuffed shells are ready because the cheese will all be melted, the marinara sauce will be bubbling and the shells will be slightly set. Finish it off with some fresh basil and get ready to devour! Pictured below is about half the recipe.