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 Spinach and Artichoke Stuffed Shells 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.
Spinach and Artichoke Stuffed Shells
Ingredients
- 3 cups part skim ricotta
- 1 ½ cups shredded part skim mozzarella
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese
- 2 eggs
- 3 cups fresh spinach wilted and cooled
- 1 15 oz can artichoke hearts chopped
- 1 ½ 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)
Quick Pasta Sauce
- 28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes in rich puree
- 1 ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- 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.
- Quick Pasta Sauce
- 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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Kelsie
How many calories/servings does this make?
Barbara Schieving
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.
Maureen | Orgasmic Chef
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.
Jamie
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!
Susan
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!
Lisa~~
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~~
Margaret
Pasta shells filled with artichoke dip? How creative is that. And the marinara sauce – perfect!! Now I want to go make stuffed shells.
Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella
That is such a quick and easy marinara sauce mum! I must give that a go since I usually buy it 😀 xxx
Deborah
I love stuffed shells, and I love this idea! Now I’m hungry.
Meghan
What a great looking dish! Anything with spinach and artichoke gets my vote! Must give this a try!
Cookin Canuck
This looks so good, Barbara. Anything with artichoke and spinach captures my attention right away.
Cathy at Wives with Knives
What a delicious SRC recipe choice, Barbara. A meatless filling for the shells would be a nice change of pace.
Angie@Angie's Recipes
This looks absolutely delicious! I love the filling a lot.
patsy
what a great idea to put an artichoke dip kind of mixture inside stuffed shells! This is something I know everyone would love!
Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar
Oh my goodness!! This sounds so tasty, and is gorgeous as well. I can’t wait to try!
Valérie (Franche-Comté)
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.
Kate | Food Babbles
Oh my goodness, this looks so good! I love spinach and artichokes so these sound like the perfect stuffed shells. Yum!
Lisa
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!