The best stuffed shells ever- using homemade garlic ricotta

Name: How to cook The best stuffed shells ever- using homemade garlic ricotta - cookcic.com
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 30 min
Cuisine: Us

Introduce

Chef :

Emily Reiter

The best stuffed shells ever- using homemade garlic ricotta

Real talk here ppl- this dish is flipping delicious. I’ve done baked Italian pastas in all ways, so many times, but this is my favorite. The real star of the show is the homemade ricotta. While you can also make your own tomato sauce, my family really likes rao’s. So unless I’ve got all day, I’ll skip making sauce. If you wanna take it up one more notch, make your own pasta! I can’t do shells, but I’ll thin roll sheets, cook them and then fill them and roll them up like enchiladas- or canneloni.

Ingredient

1/2 gallon

Whole milk

1 c

Cream

1 tbsp

Lemon juice and or rice wine vinegar

1 box

large shells

1 1/2 jars

good jarred tomato sauce or homemade sauce

large ball of fresh mozzarella- half of it cut into slices and the other half should be shredded

1 pack

Italian chicken sausage

Cooking instructions

* Step 1

Making ricotta- before you begin line a strainer with 2 layers of cheesecloth

* Step 2

In a large, heavy bottom pot, add milk, cream, 2 cloves of garlic and salt. Stir frequently and get it up to 200 degrees.

* Step 3

Once it’s reached temp, turn off heat and mix in juice or vinegar. Stir only enough to incorporate the acid- don’t overwork the milk or your ricotta will be rubbery. Let sit for 10-15 min

* Step 4

With a slotted sooon, transfer the curds to the prepared strainer and cheesecloth. Let that drain 15 min

* Step 5

Once it’s fully drained, add the spinach and basil ribbons, 1 lg egg, 3/4c shredded mozzarella, pepper to taste and mix well- set aside.

* Step 6

Remove sausage from its casing and while it’s cooking break it apart into as small pieces as you can. Once cooked, set aside

* Step 7

Cook box of pasta for 9 min. Drain and rinse well with cold water. Dry them.

* Step 8

Once the shells are cool, fill each with the cheese filling.

* Step 9

Assembly- at the bottom of a casserole dish, spread a layer of sauce- 2/3 c. Put a layer of shells. Use all your meat and cover the shells with it. Cover the meat in sauce. Add a layer of shredded mozzarella If you are using a shallower casserole dish, you’ll only do 1 layer. If you’re using a deeper dish, as I like to do, add another layer of shells, sauce basil leaves and cheese.