Stuffed Shells with Ricotta and Homemade Mushroom Sauce. Stuff each pasta shell with the ricotta filling using a spoon and arrange across the dish. After all the shells are done, spread the rest of the sauce across the top. Top with sliced, fresh mozzarella and sprinkle over Parmesan.

Remove from oven, garnish with basil leaves and serve hot. Great recipe for Stuffed Shells with Ricotta and Homemade Mushroom Sauce. I've made this a few times for my family and they seem to love it so I thought I'd share :) This recipe is vegetarian but you can also sauté some Italian sausage, etc. into the sauce! You can have Stuffed Shells with Ricotta and Homemade Mushroom Sauce using 22 ingredients and 11 steps. Here is how you achieve that.

Ingredients of Stuffed Shells with Ricotta and Homemade Mushroom Sauce

It's of Tomato sauce.
Prepare 1 (28 oz) of can crushed tomatoes.
You need 1/2 of onion, minced.
Prepare 2 cloves of garlic, minced.
Prepare 8 oz of mushrooms, sliced.
It's 1-2 tsp of Italian seasoning.
It's 1/2 tsp of paprika powder (optional).
Prepare 1 of bay leaf (optional).
It's 2 Tbsp of olive oil.
You need of Salt & pepper to taste.
It's 1/2 tsp of sugar if needed.
It's of Filling.
Prepare 15 oz of ricotta cheese.
You need 1/4 cup of grated fresh Parmesan cheese.
You need 1 of egg, beaten.
It's 1/2 tsp of salt.
It's of Pepper to taste.
Prepare 1 cup of peas, chopped spinach, kale, or your favorite green.
Prepare of Pasta/toppings.
It's 25 of jumbo shells (about half of a 12 oz box, I used Barilla n.334).
It's 6 oz of fresh mozzarella.
Prepare of Grated Parmesan to taste.

I recommend using fire roasted tomato. Put the mushroom ricotta mix into a large resealable plastic bag. Place the stuffed shells, open side up, into the baking dish with the sauce. In a large bowl, mix eggs, ricotta, half the mozzarella, half the Parmesan, parsley, salt and pepper until well combined.

Stuffed Shells with Ricotta and Homemade Mushroom Sauce instructions

Saute the onion and garlic in olive oil until soft. Add mushrooms and continue sautéing until they are soft too..
Add the crushed tomatoes and about 1/4 cup water (enough to rinse out the can with). Add herbs/spices. Bring to a simmer and cook on low for 15 minutes..
Once the tomato sauce has cooked for 15 minutes, adjust taste with salt and pepper, and add a little sugar if you want the sauce to be sweeter. Set aside..
Mix together the ingredients for the filling. Set aside..
Preheat oven to 350F/180C..
Boil a large pot of water and cook the pasta extra al dente. It’s 9 minutes for the Barilla brand. Drain and rinse in cold water to stop the cooking and prevent sticking..
In a large oven dish (9x13 in or so), spread out half of the sauce across the bottom..
Stuff each pasta shell with the ricotta filling using a spoon and arrange across the dish..
After all the shells are done, spread the rest of the sauce across the top. Top with sliced, fresh mozzarella and sprinkle over Parmesan..
Cover with aluminum foil and bake in the middle rack for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, remove foil and bake another 5-10 minutes to get some extra color on the cheese if desired..
Remove from oven and let rest for 5 minutes. Dig in!.

In a large bowl combine the ricotta, ¼ cup of the mozzarella, ¼ cup of the Parmesan, stir well. Add in the egg, spinach, dried basil, crushed red pepper,salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste. To give the filling some extra flavor, I love to add some fresh herbs like basil and parsley. Don't forget a dash of oregano and some fresh garlic. Another pasta recipe using ricotta: ricotta and spinach stuffed shells.