Shells and Cheese

An excellent make-ahead dinner that the whole family enjoyed.

When I make this I like to use the biggest shells I can find, this time I sent my husband to the store and he picked up the Creamette. Although I haven’t used it before, they turned out well with little breakage.

Mix 1 1/2 cup ricotta cheese with 4 cloves crushed garlic, 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese (for this application I use the inexpensive canned kind because it doesn’t need to melt nicely) 1 egg and 1 teaspoon salt.

Mix.

For the sauce, 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes ( I use these tomatoes), 3 cloves crushed garlic, 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning, 1 teaspoon each garlic powder and onion powder.

And mix. If your tomatoes are sour, you may want to add some sugar. With the Sclafani, I never need to do that.

Prepare shells to the package directions, and fill with Ricotta mix.

All bundled up. I used a spoon but you know what now that I think about it, I could have piped them in with a pastry bag. Next time!

Cover with sauce.

1 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella and a half cup Parmesan (I’ve been buying it by the wheel, so amazing). After this, I covered the dish and refrigerated. It was a nice Wednesday meal when everyone is worn out in the middle of the week!

And bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes. I did broil this for a minute after to get the cheese nice and brown.

And serve. You’ll notice there is a lot of garlic in this recipe, we really like it that way. If you prefer less, back off of the garlic a bit. I will say that when I had the leftovers for lunch the next day, my co-worker said hmm, I smell garlic!

IF YOU LIKE THIS RECIPE YOU WILL ALSO LIKE:

• Instant Pot Meatballs With Mushroom Gravy
• Instant Pot Triple Mac and Cheese
• Instant Pot Johnny Marzetti
• Instant Pot Beef Stroganoff
• Instant Pot Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese
• Instant Pot Chicken Tetrazzini

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Shells and Cheese

An excellent make-ahead dinner

Prep Time30 minutes mins

Cook Time45 minutes mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Servings: 6 plus people

Ingredients

• 28 ounces Crushed Tomatoes
• 9 cloves Crushed Garlic
• 1 1/2 cup Ricotta cheese
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 cup Grated Parmesan, the kind in a can
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cup shredded mozzerella cheese
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese (the real, better-melting kind)
• 2 teaspoons Italian Seasoning

Instructions

• Cook shells to package directions. Combine Ricotta with 4 to 5 cloves crushed garlic, salt, egg and dried Parmesan. Fill shells with cheese, and place in 13*9 pan. Combine crushed tomatoes with 4 to 5 cloves crushed garlic, onion powder, garlic powder and Italian seasoning. Cover shells with sauce, and top all with mozzarella and Parmesan. Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes, broil for a minute if you would like the cheese to be slightly browned.