When I was growing up my mother would have charity or school meetings at least once a week. My father had little-to-no cooking ability, so my mom would keep tons of food she pre-prepared stocked in the freezer. All she had to do on those nights was pop something out of the freezer and toss it in the oven and we would have a homemade meal ready just in time for her to run out the door as Dad was coming in from work!
These baked shells are always a hit and remind me of the foods my mother prepared when I was young. When I make them I double the recipe so we can eat one batch that night and have another tucked away in the freezer for the nights that I’m too tired to cook. Even better, you can save a shell or two from dinner for your kids lunch the next day!
Baked Shells
Ingredients
- 1 Box Pasta Shells (you will have a few leftover)
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 small onion, diced
- 1 Garlic clove, minced
- 1 pound ground turkey
- 1 Tsp kosher salt
- 1 1/2 Tsp Italian herbs
- 1 1/4 Cup ricotta cheese
- 1/2 Cup Parmesan Cheese, grated, divided
- 1 large eggs
- 1 Cup Mozzarella Cheese, divided
- 1 1/2 Cups red sauce
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Cook pasta al dente, according to package directions.
- Place oil in a saute pan over medium heat and cook onions for 4 minutes. Add garlic and cook for an additional minute.
- Add ground turkey, salt and Italian herbs. Cook for an additional 6-8 minutes or until turkey is cooked through.
- Place cooled ground turkey mixture in a bowl with ricotta, parmesan and eggs. Stir to combine.
- Place 2 tbsp of turkey mixture in each pasta shell.
- Cover the bottom of a 9 x 11 inch baking dish with 1/2 cup of the red sauce.
- Place the shells, seam side down, into the dish.
- Cover with remaining tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese and remaining parmesan cheese.
- Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and continue to bake for an additional 10 minutes.
- Serve.
At what point do I freeze this recipe?
Thanks for this great recipe! I made a double batch and gave a frozen one to a girlfriend who just had a baby – it was very appreciated.
I found that 1 whole jar of store-bought pasta sauce works great for this recipe – so easy!
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Was good, I used the weelicious pizza sauce it was great!