Pasta shells stuffed with great tasting sausage and gobs of mozzarella cheese. This meal is a family pleaser!

Italian Sausage Stuffing Is A Change Of Pace

Cheese is the traditional filling for shells. Ground beef is another common filling. You might like my recipes for Cheese Stuffed Shells and Meat Stuffed Shells.

I have always loved the flavor of Italian sausage so I thought it would work well as a filling.

These were made with sweet sausage, but hot sausage would be very good too.

Sausage Filling Requires Less Prep

Because Italian sausage is so flavorful by itself, it requires less preparation time to make.

That means less “add-ins” to the basic meat mixture, and I kept my add-ins simple.

Soft Bread Crumbs

My meat-stuffed shells use soaked bread. With the sausage filling, I used plain soft breadcrumbs.

Since sausage is wetter than ground beef, I felt the soaked bread would make the filling too watery. Also since sausage is way fattier than the lean ground beef I use in my meat-filled shells, I wanted something that would absorb a lot of that fat. Day-old bread made into crumbs serves that purpose nicely.

Soft bread crumbs are easy to make too, and I usually do a few cups and store them in the fridge for future use. I use my little Kitchenaid mini chopper to make them–just a couple of pulses will turn the torn slices of bread into fine crumbs. If you want to make a bigger batch all at one time, a bigger food processor is the way to go.

Amounts May Vary

I used one pound of bulk sausage meat and about one cup of diced cheese which yielded 8 over-stuffed shells. I would say there was at least 1/3 cup of sausage mixture in each shell. If you want to stretch the filling a bit, use less. What I do is portion out the filling then cook the appropriate amount of shells–with a couple of extra just in case some break or tear upon filling.

And because this question has come up a few times–the meat is raw when it’s stuffed into the pasta. It cooks fully in the oven.

The Recipe

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Sausage Stuffed Shells

Pasta shells stuffed with great tasting sausage and gobs of mozzarella cheese. This meal is a family pleaser!

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time1 hour hr

Total Time1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Course: Comfort Foods, Everyday Meals, pasta, Pork

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: italian sausage, pasta, sausage, stuffed shells

Servings: 4

Calories: 757kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

• 1 lb sweet or hot bulk Italian sausage meat
• 6-8 oz about a cup diced (small dice) mozzarella
• 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley --OR- 2 tbs dry from the jar parsely
• 1 1/4 cup soft bread crumbs
• 2 tbsp grated Parmesan -OR- Romano cheese
• 1 clove garlic finely minced
• 2 eggs
• 8-12 jumbo shells cooked al dente
• 1 recipe Quick Chunky Tomato Sauce -OR- your favorite pasta sauce
• Extra shredded mozzarella

Instructions

• Mix well the sausage meat, mozzarella, parsley, bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, garlic and eggs in a medium bowl. Portion out the meat in desired amount.
• Cook the same amount of shells as meat portions. Slightly undercook the shells because they will be baked too.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Place about 1/2 cup of the sauce in a baking dish large enough to hold the amount of shells you made--this would be anywhere from a 1 1/2-2 1/2 quart baking dish.
• Put the shells in the pan and top with more sauce and desired amount of shredded mozzarella.
• Cover baking dish with foil and bake 45-60 minutes, or until sausage is cooked through.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 757kcal | Carbohydrates: 39g | Protein: 36g | Fat: 50g | Saturated Fat: 20g | Cholesterol: 204mg | Sodium: 1417mg | Potassium: 472mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 744IU | Vitamin C: 7mg | Calcium: 346mg | Iron: 4mg

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Stuffed shells go south of the border with these taco-flavored Mexican stuffed shells.  ¡Ole!

I’ve usually seen these done with chicken…and they look just great!  But I’ve been publishing a lot with chicken lately so I wanted to give it a rest and use some beef!

These stuffed shells are bursting with flavor!  The jalapeno and bell peppers combined give a slight heat and a hint of sweetness.

Bursting with Mexican Flavor

The refried beans make the filling creamy and lets not forget the GOBS of cheese on the top!

This makes a great family meal–and while stuffing the pasta shells is a bit fussy, it’s worth it.  However, if you don’t want to fuss, just mix the filling with some cooked penne or ziti, pour the sauce on the top, then the cheese and you’ve got an “unconstructed” version that tastes just as good!

Loads of cheese!

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Mexican Stuffed Shells

Stuffed shells go south of the border with these taco-flavored Mexican stuffed shells.  ¡Ole!

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time40 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: Mexican

Keyword: mexican, stuffed shells

Servings: 4

Calories: 385kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1 jalapeno diced finely
• 1/2 cup diced green bell pepper
• 1/4 cup diced red bell pepper
• 3 tbsp taco seasoning
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1 16 oz refried beans
• 1 cup green onions sliced
• 2 10 oz red enchilada sauce divided
• 2 cups Mexican blend shredded cheese divided
• 1 12 oz jumbo shells pasta

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Cook shells as per package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water; drain again.
• In a large skillet, brown ground beef, onion, jalapeno and bell peppers; drain fat. Add salt, pepper and taco seasoning. Stir well. Place beef mixture in a large bowl.
• Add 1/2 cup of the green onions, 1/2 cup of the cheese, 1/2 cup enchilada sauce and the refried beans. Mix well.
• Add 1 cup of enchilada sauce to the bottom of a 2 1/2 quart oblong baker. Stuff shell pasta with beef/bean mixture and place in pan in a single layer. Pour remaining enchilada sauce over shells.
• Cover pan with foil and bake for 30-40 minutes or until heated through. Remove the foil and add remaining shredded cheese on top of shells. Return to oven and bake for 5-10 minutes, or until cheese is melted and bubbly. Top with remaining 1/2 cup of green onions.

Nutrition

Serving: 4g | Calories: 385kcal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 38g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Cholesterol: 124mg | Sodium: 1209mg | Potassium: 590mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 1192IU | Vitamin C: 38mg | Calcium: 402mg | Iron: 4mg

Mexican Stuffed Shells

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