
When I was a kid one of my favorite dishes my mother made was broccoli shells. It was something I always looked forward to. If I would try to make this in my house I'd be the only one eating it, unfortunately. Even my husband would snub his nose at it with the mention of broccoli. So depressing!
So instead of making my favorite childhood dish I decided to make a twist on lasagna. Jumbo shells are filled with a delicious meaty three cheese filling that just screams Italian. It's so delicious that even my picky kids will eat it!
My Three Cheese Stuffed Shells with Beef and Italian Sausage don't just have any parmesan cheese in them. They have freshly grated parmesan cheese – inside and out! Fresh makes all the difference.
To grate my parmesan cheese I used the Blackwood Rotary Cheese Grater. It perfectly grated my parmesan cheese with ease. I had no fear of cutting myself like I do with other graters. Flat and box graters just aren't meant for me. I am way too clumsy and am likely to slice my fingers off along with the cheese. So this is perfect for me!
To clean I just washed by hand immediately after using. It was really simple considering I hate washing by hand but it could totally go in the top rack of the dishwasher too. I love that I could also you this cheese grater to grate chocolate. This tool is going to become a staple in my kitchen!
I love parmesan cheese on anything Italian even salads. Especially if I have some Olive Garden salad dressing. All this talk is getting me hungry. Off I go to dig into these amazing Three Cheese Stuffed Shells with Beef and Italian Sausage. They even taste great reheated!
Three Cheese Stuffed Shells with Beef and Italian Sausage
Ingredients
- 20 jumbo shells
- 1/2 lb ground beef
- 1/2 lb ground mild italian sausage
- salt and pepper
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 1/2 onion chopped
- 2 8oz cans tomato sauce
- 1 6oz can tomato paste
- 1 14.5oz can diced tomatoes not drained
- 2 tsp italian seasoning
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
- 1 egg
- 2.5 cups mozzarella cheese divided
- 3/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese divided
- fresh parsley optional garnish
Instructions
- In a large pan over medium high heat brown the beef and sausage. Season with salt and pepper. Add in garlic and onion; saute until soft. Drain and return to pan.
- Add tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, and Italian seasonings to meat. Mix well. Cover and let simmer for about 30 minutes.
- While the meat sauce is simmering, cook the jumbo shells according to package directions for baked shells. Drain and lay out individually on a baking mat to cool.
- Preheat the over to 350 degrees. In a medium sized bowl, combine the ricotta, egg, 1 cup mozzarella, and 1/2 cup parmesan. Mix well. Add in half of the meat sauce; combining well.
- Spoon some of the meat sauce on the bottom of a 9x13" pan. Stuff each shell with about two tablespoons of ricotta meat mixture; placing face up in the pan.
- Spoon the remaining meat sauce over the stuffed shells; as well as the remaining mozzarella and parmesan cheese.
- Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 10 minutes to melt the cheese. Garnish with parsley. Enjoy!
What is your favorite Italian dish?
Everyone I know loves this. Thanks for the recipe1
Thanks! It’s a super tasty recipe!
There’s not much I like eating more than a good pasta dish. This is totally my kind of recipe.
You and my son would be friends. I swear he would eat pasta for every meal if we let him lol
This looks really good. I need to give this a try!
I always have a hard time finding some idea for dinner. My husband loves pasta (he is Italian) and add in cheese and Italian sausage and you have a winner. I have printed this up and will be making it soon. Thank you.
These are pretty tasty! My mom used to add in broccoli but my husband isn’t a fan of that.
This looks quite appealing and easy to do….at least I think so.
i’ve been wanting to try this recipe before! would be something different this week! thanks for the recipe
Ooohhh those shells are really, really yummy especially with the cheese. I wish I could make these. My son would be very happy.
Omg how yummy!!!! I must give this recipe a try!
Looks so delicious! Great recipe for fathers day!
Stuffed shells are def. a favorite for me. I laugh though because I am always reminded of my first time, when I didn’t know you had to boil the shells. I think I was 16? lol It was a long time ago. 😉
Haha. I could see doing that when I was younger. One may think the oven may just cook them without boiling. I know now there’s also no boil pasta shells too.
I can’t wait to try out your special recipe for this Three Cheese Stuffed Shells with Beef and Italian Sausage. I think it sounds delicious, and I hope I do as good as you did in the photos.
You are so creative. I will find a pack of shell pasta in our local store, I hope there is.
Wow, there’s lot of cheese happening here. I will like to cook it!
i wasnt sure what to make for dinner tonight, but i think we have all the ingredients for this!
Oh my! These look great. I had stuffed shells for the first time not to long ago! They were fabulous!
Your recipe is totally great! I love to try it, the pictures are really tempting me.
YUM!!! I need to make these when I am done with my cleanse!
These looking awesome! I am getting hungry by looking at them! Thank you for sharing your wonderful recipe!
This was a dish my mother-in-law made and we love it. I’m going to try your recipe. It’s a bit different than mine.
These look so good. What I love about pasta recipes is that they are so versatile and you can do whatever it is that you want with them since they go pretty well with other ingredients! This is a sure hit with the kids!
yum this looks so good. We love pasta in our house and are always looking for a new recipe.
MMMMMMM! loooks so yummy! i just want to reach into the pictures and grab some hahhaha
Great recipes thanks for the share
You had me at cheese. The whole thing looks delicious, but it is the cheese that makes the meal!
I love Italian sausage! This looks great!!
This looks delicious! I know my family would love it. I’m going to have to give these stuffed shells a try 🙂
This looks delicious! I love stuffed shells.