Last Wednesday, Doug was having a rough day, and I wanted to cheer him up when he got home from work.
Since I’m Italian, the best way I know to show my love is with a heaping plate of yum:
Stuffed shells are always good no matter how you make them but you want a secret on how to make them irresistable?
One that neither the back of the ricotta cheese or the box of shells knows…
or even most of allrecipes knows…
And I won’t mention the recipes that don’t even call for ricotta.
Use eggs and lots of them.
photo via Granny Miller
Both the tub of ricotta and the box of shells said to use one lb of ricotta and one egg.
One egg!?!?!
One EGG?!?!?!
We use 8-12 eggs per pound of ricotta cheese!
The reason is that it makes the ricotta filling light and fluffy. It may be runny while you’re making it, but it’ll be anything BUT when its done and you’re chowing down.
Keep this tip in mind while making stuffed shells, lasagna, or other italian dishes as the same rule applies.
There are many variations on shells or lasagna, but there’s the one I used:
Grandma’s Stuffed Shells
Ingredients:
1lb Ricotta Cheese
8-12 eggs (more eggs, more fluffy)
1 box shells (I used Barilla)
1 bag frozen spinach, defrosted
1 to 1/2 lbs Italian sausage (without casing)
1 jar sauce
salt, pepper, and lots of various Italian spices
Start boiling water in one pot, and browning Italian Sausage in another. If water is boiling, add shells, evoo, and a bit of salt. Set the timer for 12 minutes, you want the shells to be al dente, or firm. Don’t worry, they’ll cook more in the oven.
Meanwhile, in another bowl, beat eggs. Add salt, pepper, a whole MESS of spices, and mix well. Add ricotta cheese and mix with a fork until smooth. Add spinach and then about a 1/3 of the cooked sausage.
Pour close to a half jar of sauce and a bit of oil on the pan and spread until covered (I had to use more once I took this picture, lol). This will prevent the shells from sticking to the pan.
Place shells on pan and fill.
I thought the best way would be with a ziploc filled with the filling, but it WASN’T! It would have been so much easier if I just scooped it in with a small ladle! When filling the shells, know that the eggs will cause the mixture to expand, and be careful not to over fill.
Cover pan, and cook at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes covered. If you want to add extra cheese, uncover and cook for 5 more minutes.
While near the end of the cooking time, add remaining sauce to sausage pan, and heat.
If you noticed, unlike most other recipes, I didn’t pour sauce over the top before cooking. I prefer mine without too much sauce, so I cook the sauce separately and letting everyone put it on as they wish.
(If you like more, add another jar to the sausage pan cause you’ll probably run out… )
Take out, plate it up, pour a glass of wine, and ENJOY!
You can see mine is the one with less sauce, mmm so good. Both Doug and Lily went nuts for it!
If you take just one thing out of this post, use MORE eggs!
Do you have a family recipe that you’d like to share? Link it up in the comments!
Um, yum! Will be bookmarking. Thanks for the egg tip…I never would have guessed!
Yum. Great tip. Going to have to try this one!
I make stuffed shells all the time. It is one of those dishes that freeze easily, everyone likes it, perfect to pull out for a new mom or someone who is ill. I make mine with three cheeses and one is ricotta! But I never knew about the eggs – thanks for the tip! As a 1 egg person, I can't wait to try with a whole dozen.
Looks so yummy! I'm going to have to try this one.Kisses from the WhipperChicks
Oh my gosh! Going to have to try that, my family uses 4 eggs for a pound of ricotta cheese :D (It comes out fantastic, btw…)
I am going to make this SOON!!!! Looks great!Bonnie :)
mmmmmm!! that looks amazing! i'm a sucker for stuffed pasta..
Omigoodness, I haven't made stuffed shells since I was pregnant. I MUST make these now. Like now now! Hee hee, I'm hungry after looking at those pictures!!! xx
OH an italian recipe.I'm italian and I am a follower of your blog.Where are you from?cheers from Milan Italy Emanuela
thanks for reminding me of one of our favorite recipes! and guess what, i've never used eggs!!! i'll hav to whip some of this up SOOON and add some eggs – yum!
Oh my gosh that looks good! It is going on my menu for this week! This is one of our family favorites…a fudge recipe from my grandmother. I only make it in December, and my husband is usually asking me by the end of November how soon I'll have the first batch made! http://thefivedays.blogspot.com/2008/12/red-cross-fudge.html
sooo going on my dinner menu for… well… soon. as soon as i can. i have wanted those for forever. i might take out the spinach though. yucky. haha. keep everything else the same you think? anyways, maybe ill plan this for a dinner at mom and dads over the weekend and cook it there. then i dont have "other people' telling me i am making it "wrong" ugh. lol
Ohhh, I've been wanting to make those for a while! Now it just has to go on the dinner menu! Yumm!
They look really yummy! I love stuffed shells and can't wait to try these.
Hey there! I wanted you to know that I did make these last month. They were very yummy! But I had a few questions: Can you define a "whole mess of spices"…;) Cause I don't think I used enough. And I used 9 eggs, and it was good but I hoped they would be fluffier… how long do you 'beat' the eggs? I'm thinking that might be my issue. Thanks for the recipe!