Stuffed pasta shells might look like a weekend cooking project, but Sophia Kaur has a clever shortcut that makes them easy enough for a weeknight. From her cookbook The Lazy Girl’s Guide to Delicious Dinners, this recipe skips the usual step of boiling the pasta. Instead, uncooked jumbo shells are filled with a mixture of ricotta, spinach and seasonings, then baked directly in marinara sauce until tender. A layer of melted mozzarella finishes the dish.

“My Italian friend taught me something amazing,” shares food blogger Sophia Kaur in her new cookbook The Lazy Girl’s Guide to Delicious Dinners: 60 No-Stress, Limited-Mess, Sure-to-Impress Meals. “You know when you buy those lasagna noodle boxes that say you don’t need to cook them first? That’s just a marketing tactic. You actually don’t have to cook any dry pasta before baking it, as long as you’re putting it into a liquid, or in this case, lots and lots of sauce. Have you ever tried to stuff a giant shell noodle once it’s cooked? It is not fun. At all. This technique makes it so easy to stuff shells that you can make this once super-complicated meal during the week.” Try for yourself and see.

Spinach and Ricotta Stuffed Pasta Shells

Sophia Kaur

These easy spinach and ricotta stuffed pasta shells are filled with a creamy cheese-and-spinach mixture, baked in marinara sauce and topped with melted mozzarella. Best of all, there's no need to boil the pasta shells first.

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Ingredients

15 oz (425 g) ricotta cheese
10 oz (283 g) chopped frozen spinach thawed
1 egg
2 tsp salt
2 tsp pepper
¼ tsp nutmeg
12 oz (340 g) large shell pasta
2 24 oz [680 ml] jar marinara sauce
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
2 tbsp Italian seasoning
1 cup fresh basil

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F (176°C). Make sure you do this first. I always forget. This is me telling you: Don’t forget.
In a mixing bowl, combine the ricotta, spinach, egg, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Mix everything well. This will be the filling for our shells. Add the mixture to each dry pasta shell, making sure each shell is totally full of the mixture. Scrape the top of each shell so the filling is flat and not coming out of the shell.
Lay the shells in a single layer in a 3 quart (2.8 L) oven-safe baking dish. You do not need to grease the pan as the sauce will provide enough moisture for nothing to stick. Speaking of sauce, add the marinara sauce to make sure all the shells are submerged and there is enough sauce to cover the top. I know it looks like a lot, but remember our shells are not cooked, and this sauce is going to cook them.
Cover the baking dish (I just use foil) and bake for 1 hour. Remove from the oven and add shredded mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle the Italian seasoning on top of the cheese. Put the dish back into the oven for 15 minutes or until the cheese is golden and bubbling. Remove and top with basil. Pro tip – have garlic bread ready on the side. You will need it to sop up the sauce.

Keyword baked pasta shells, no-boil stuffed shells, ricotta stuffed shells, spinach ricotta pasta, spinach ricotta stuffed shells, stuffed pasta shells, vegetarian pasta dinner

Recipe FAQs

Do you need to boil pasta shells before stuffing them?: Not for this recipe. The dry pasta shells are filled with the spinach and ricotta mixture and baked directly in marinara sauce. Make sure the shells are fully covered with sauce so they cook evenly.
Can you use frozen spinach for stuffed shells?: Yes. This recipe uses thawed frozen spinach, making it an easy option when fresh spinach isn’t available. Follow the recipe’s instructions for preparing the filling.
How do you know when stuffed pasta shells are cooked?: The pasta shells should be tender when pierced with a fork. Because this recipe uses uncooked pasta, it’s important to keep the shells covered with plenty of sauce during baking.