Description
Believe it or not, I’m not a fan of cheese and try to avoid it whenever possible. So dishes that are stuffed with things like ricotta turn me off. I created this dish as a compromise to my cheese avoidance and my husband’s love of Italian food. Serve this with garlic bread and a salad for a wonderful family dinner.
Ingredients
- 1 (16 ounce) package jumbo pasta shells
- 3 teaspoons vegetable oil, divided
- 1 pound bulk Italian sausage
- 1 (16 ounce) package finely shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
- 1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning, plus more for garnish if desired
- 1 (24 ounce) jar prepared marinara sauce
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly oil a 9×13 baking dish.
- Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook shells in the boiling water
- stirring occasionally until tender yet firm to the bite
- about 10 to 12 minutes. Drain. Lightly oil a rimmed baking sheet; place drained pasta on baking sheet to cool.
- Heat 2 teaspoons vegetable oil over medium-high heat in a heavy skillet. Cook and crumble sausage until it has lost its pink color and begins to brown. Remove from heat; drain off grease.
- Stir half of the shredded cheese and the Italian seasoning into the browned sausage. Spoon mixture into the pasta shells (1 to 2 tablespoons per shell). Arrange stuffed shells in prepared baking dish. Pour marinara sauce evenly over the shells. Top with remaining shredded cheese. Cover tightly with aluminum foil.
- Bake in preheated oven until heated through and bubbly
- about 30 minutes. Remove foil; bake until browned
- 5 to 10 more minutes. Sprinkle with a pinch of Italian seasoning
- if desired.
Servings: 8