I have a freezer full of pork that we got from my niece’s 4-H project. The place my sister took it to be processed doesn’t always give you what you ask for. I think it’s more what they are in the mood to make. The day they processed my order, they must have been in the mood for Italian Sausage. I’ve never seen so much of it!
With so much Italian sausage, I’m having to get creative to use it. I decided to give it a try in stuffed shells. The result tasted great and as a bonus, you get to cook once and eat twice. This recipe makes enough for two 9×13 pans!
I apologize for the blurry picture. My camera isn’t auto focusing very well lately.
Italian Sausage and Spinach Stuffed Shells
Ingredients
- 1 lb. Italian sausage
- 1 onion chopped
- 1 clove garlic minced or crushed
- 1 bag fresh spinach
- 2 lbs. ricotta cheese
- 1 cup Italian style blend cheese shredded
- 1 box jumbo pasta shells cooked according to package directions
- 2 cans Hunt’s spaghetti sauce
Instructions
- Brown the sausage with the onion and garlic. Drain and rinse under hot water.
- Cook the spinach in 1 cup of water until soft and wilted. Drain and squeeze out the water, then coarsely chop the spinach.
- Mix the sausage, spinach, ricotta and Italian cheese together.
- Fill each cooked shell with the mixture.
- Spread a bit of sauce on the bottom of two 9×13 pans. Put the stuffed shells in the pans as you fill them.
- Cover with the rest of the sauce.
- To bake, cover the pan with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minute to 1 hour.
- To freeze, cover tightly with foil and label with directions, “Thaw in fridge. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour”
Last night we tried the Italian sausage and bean soup that you poste a few days ago. It was delicious with warm crusty galic bread. I have a receipe for an egg casserole that uses Italian sausage and mozzarella cheese. You might want to try something like that in a few days.
I usually make a cheese stuffed shells, next time I am going to try this one instead. I make my own ricotta cheese, it is super easy. If you want the recipe, let me know. Thanks for your great ideas.
This made me laugh, because I too got pork from a local guy, and we got sausage. I’ve actually never used sausage in all my married 14 years!
So, thanks for the recipe. Now I have something I can do with it! 🙂
Looks delicious! I generally make stuffed shells florentine but I think I may give this a try just to have a new spin on one of our regular dishes! YUM!
I love stuffed shells….yours look super yummy 🙂
Ok that’s it. I am making these ASAP! Cheesy stuffed shells? With Italian sausage and spinach? It’s like everything I love in a cute compact shell!
Umm those look so good Tiffany. I love pasta anything and ty for linking up to potluck sunday.
Trying to print individual recipes with pictures but can’t seem to print?
Any suggestions? Thanks