Mushroom and Ricotta Stuffed Shells

What comes to your mind when you think of dinner at the very last minute? Pasta? At least, that’s what it is, for me. I think its one of the most easiest to make for dinner and something that everyone in your family will love. You can rarely go wrong with a pot of pasta. Whether you cook it on the stove top or bake it. Whether it is a white sauce or a red sauce. Everyone loves pasta. It especially helps when you have that glass of wine to wash it down with.

Ah, now that I am talking about this, I want some pasta and a glass of wine right now.

If you are getting a little tired of the same old spaghetti with meatballs or spaghetti marinara or a fettuccine carbonara, then here is a fun and interesting pasta that you can make at home but makes you feel like you are eating at a restaurant. This mushrooms and ricotta stuffed shells is an easy pasta that you can make in about 30 mins and it is especially good when you add Ragu Homestyle Thick and Hearty Mushroom Sauce .

We are already huge fans of this line of sauce by Ragu – we have tried the Homestyle Thick and Hearty Traditional Sauce and the Homestyle Thick and Hearty Roasted Garlic sauce and loved it. You can find my recipe for Sausage and Spring Vegetable Pasta with Ragu Homestyle Sauce here.

What I love about these sauces are just how thick they are! I absolutely hate it when pasta sauces are watery and they just don’t stick to the pasta at all. When you try to take a forkful of pasta you get no sauce at all with it and you all know how not tasty that can be. With this Ragu Homestyle Sauce, the sauce is so thick that it practically hugs every noodle. In this case, it forms a nice thick base for the stuffed pasta shells to sit on. Even after baking, it does not become watery and it stays put nice and thick when serving the shells with the sauce base on to individual pasta bowls. And the bonus is that it tastes amazing! How about a bonus for the bonus – there are absolutely no artificial flavors, artificial colors or high fructose corn syrup in this.

There are tons of brilliant dinner ideas using Ragu Homestyle Pasta Sauces that your entire family will love, that you can find here. Have you tried this sauce? Which one is your favorite? Let me know in the comments.

Mushroom and Ricotta Stuffed Shells – The Recipe

Ingredients:

• 8 oz jumbo pasta shells, about 12-14
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup chopped brown button mushrooms
• ½ teaspoon dried basil flakes
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• salt, to taste
• fresh ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 cup whole milk organic ricotta
• 1 jar Ragu Homestyle Thick and Hearty Mushroom Sauce
• fresh basil, for garnish

Method:

Cook the shells in salted boiling water for about 8 minutes, till they are al dente. Drain and rinse with cold water. Make sure the shells are not sticking to each other and keep aside.

While the pasta is cooking, heat the olive oil in a sauté pan and add the mushrooms, basil flakes, garlic powder, salt and pepper to it. Sauté till mushrooms are soft. Remove from heat and let them cool down.

Once cool, add the ricotta and beaten egg to it and mix well.

Preheat the oven to 350F.

In a oven safe dish, pour the Ragu Thick and Hearty Mushroom Sauce. Stuff the shells with the ricotta mixture and arrange on the sauce in the pan. Bake for 30 mins till the sauce is all bubbling. Remove from oven, garnish with basil leaves and serve hot.