Large pasta shells filled with an extra cheesy version of spinach artichoke dip, topped with a quick marinara sauce and sprinkled with more cheese.
Itzy’s Kitchen is my Secret Recipe Club blog this month. Erica is a group fitness instructor and Itzy’s Kitchen is filled with quick, and (usually) healthy recipes, with a few indulgent treats thrown in for good measure.
Erica also has lots of delicious vegetarian and meatless recipes on Itzy’s Kitchen. This recipe would be perfect for a meatless Monday. She adapted the recipe from Rachel Ray. I changed up the recipe a bit more to suit our tastes and to feed my crowd.
I topped the shells with a quick marinara pasta sauce. It’s so quick, easy and inexpensive that I never buy jarred pasta sauce, but feel free to substitute your favorite pasta sauce. I think a light alfredo sauce would also be a great addition to this fun twist on stuffed shells.
Ingredients
- 3 cups part skim ricotta
- 1 1/2 cups shredded part skim mozzarella
- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
- 2 eggs
- 3 cups fresh spinach, wilted and cooled
- 1 15 oz can artichoke hearts chopped
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 1 box large shell pasta, cooked according to package directions
- Pasta sauce (my recipe is below or use your favorite pasta sauce)
- Shredded cheese, optional (I used a cheddar Monterrey jack blend)
- 28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes in rich puree
- 1 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350º.
- Spread a layer of pasta sauce in the bottom of large baking dish. Mix together the first 7 ingredients. Stuff shells with mixture, top with pasta sauce. Sprinkle with shredded cheese. Bake for 40-45 minutes until the middle is hot and bubbling.
- Heat all ingredients in a sauce pan on medium heat until hot.
Visit the Secret Recipe Club for information on how to join in the fun. Stop by Itzy’s Kitchen for more delicious recipes. And be sure and check out all the great recipes the Secret Recipe Club members created this month.
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I love to bake, especially cookies, cakes, and pies. I’ll post my adventures in the kitchen, my favorite new recipes, as well as our family favorites.
A fabulous dish! Absolutely scrumptious.
Cheers,
Rosa
These look fantastic! I love spinach and artichokes together…I so need to try these!
This recipe sounds heavenly, Barbara! Time to pin!
Happy New Year (if I haven’t told you that yet)!
Great pick! I love me a good pasta bake, especially when there’s lots and lots of cheese involved, so this recipe is totally calling my name. That quick marinara sounds like a lifesaver, too!
I’ve made something similar with alfredo sauce and yes, it is delicious!
This seems pretty easy, especially if you already have cooked chicken. Not to mention, it sounds great! Thanks for sharing your marinara sauce!
How gorgeous are those shells? You’re making me drool! A great pick- such a yummy recipe. Hope you have a great Monday
Oh that just looks so so good, I want this for dinner. And it was a pleasure having you as my match this month!
You hit a home run with this recipe Babara. It sounds and looks sooo very very good!
Love this one, and the secret recipe club and all of those links! PHEW!
This looks wonderful! I love the addiction of artichoke hearts, one of my favorite ways to perk up a recipe…
oh barbara! The shells look divine and I just love spinach and artichoke together. I never can stop eating the dip! LOL!
Now this is one meal I must make sometime, Barbara! The combination of spinach/artichoke filling with tomato sauce sounds and looks heavenly. I love stuffed shells and this version is so clever! I love pasta bakes in giant pans like this.
Hey Barbara, I like seeing a few hearty meals on the internet right now. Looks wonderful with the twist of artichoke.
Ooh yum this looks good enough to fool my husband into thinking he was eating something meaty.
What a fabulous idea to fill the shells – why didn’t I think of that???
I miss pasta.
I’ve given it up.
Once in a great while I’ll have some.
It just kills me mood wise and bloat wise.
But I fondly remember stuffed shells; stuffed with sausage and cheese.
:::sigh::::
Ohhh stuffed shells..it’s been a while. I must make you soon!
Stuffed shells are one of my all time favorites – love this spin! Great pick for SRC!
This sounds perfectly delicious. I can’t wait to try these for a dinner. Thanks for sharing.
This is exactly what I crave post holiday..lots of pasta and italian food. I can’t even begin to tell you how amazing these stuffed shells look. I feel the book coming..in fact I had a dream about it..someone stole my copy of Barbara Bakes!! Seriously! Happy New Year to you and your family!
Oh my goodness, this looks so good! I love spinach and artichokes so these sound like the perfect stuffed shells. Yum!
Barbara,
Je te souhiate tout d’abord une excellente année 2013.
J’adore ces grosses pâtes à garnir
Je te souhaite un beau mardi
Valérie.
Oh my goodness!! This sounds so tasty, and is gorgeous as well. I can’t wait to try!
what a great idea to put an artichoke dip kind of mixture inside stuffed shells! This is something I know everyone would love!
This looks absolutely delicious! I love the filling a lot.
What a delicious SRC recipe choice, Barbara. A meatless filling for the shells would be a nice change of pace.
This looks so good, Barbara. Anything with artichoke and spinach captures my attention right away.
What a great looking dish! Anything with spinach and artichoke gets my vote! Must give this a try!
I love stuffed shells, and I love this idea! Now I’m hungry.
That is such a quick and easy marinara sauce mum! I must give that a go since I usually buy it
xxx
Pasta shells filled with artichoke dip? How creative is that. And the marinara sauce – perfect!! Now I want to go make stuffed shells.
Your shells look delicious and I love all the healthy spinach and artichoke in filling, great sounding meal.
If you haven’t already, I’d love for you to check out my SRC entry: Creamy Mints.
Lisa~~
This reminds me of my favorite spinach and artichoke dip but all wrapped up in those beautiful shells. It looks delicious and a perfect comfort food for winter!
Oh my! I was just talking about this kind of dish with husband and we were wondering what to fill the pasta with. Artichoke hearts is a winner in this recipe! And boy does it look so good!
My kids’ favorite meal when they were teenagers were stuffed shells and garlic bread. Your photos bring back the best memories and now I wish they were both here with me to make your recipe.
How many calories/servings does this make?
Hi Kelsie – I haven’t done a calorie count on this, but if you’d like to, I often use http://caloriecount.about.com/cc/recipe_analysis.php. It will serve 6 – 8 people.