These are no basic shells!
Pesto, pepperoni with ricotta, mascarpone, and mozzarella cheese swimming in homemade marinara. This makes these beauties so delicious and a great meal to serve for guests.
This recipe really is quite a treat for the palate and goes so well with many different sides or can even be the main. I like to serve it with meatballs and extra marinara, grilled chicken, or a berry salad with homemade dressing. Here is my favorite salad to serve with the shells. Berry Salad with Maple-Balsamic Dressing
Doesn’t that look delicious? I take a little extra time to make marinara from scratch because it makes such a fresh robust dish this way. If you don’t have the time nothing wrong with store bought. My marinara is pretty easy and only takes about 30 minutes.
Classic MarinaraThis will make about 4 cups so you can refrigerate or freeze any leftovers. Sometimes I will make a double batch of stuffed shells and freeze them.
As mentioned above we will be adding pesto to this as well. Again, I have my own I love to use but if I am short on time or lazy that day store bought is great too. Here is my pesto recipe- 10 minute Basil- Pesto Sauce I love pesto SO much and keep basil plants year-round specifically to make pesto at any time!
*Freezing- If you want to freeze the shells, stuff the shells with the cheese mixture and then freeze in a quart size bag. They will be good for about 3 months. Then bake as you would per the instructions below.
Let’s get started!
Stuffed Shells with Pesto and Pepperoni
Ingredients
- 1 box jumbo shell pasta, cooked, and drained
- 2 cups marinara
- 2 cups mozzarella cheese
- 1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese
- 1 cup marscapone
- 1/4 cup pesto
- 2 tbsp parsley, minced
- 2 tbsp basil, chopped
- 1 cup pepperoni slices, diced
- 1/8 tsp nutmeg
- 1/8 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- Fresh basil, sliced garnish (optional)
- 1 quart ziploc bag or piping bag
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. This is where we will fill our shells. It makes the process easy and easy to clean up.
- Boil the shells in salted water for 9 minutes, drain and pour them on the baking sheet. Seperate the shells so they are not sticking together and then put aside.
- In a medium sized bowl, combine the ricotta, marscarpone, pepperoni, 1 1/2 cups mozzarella, pesto, parsley, nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Mix well.
- Fill a quart size storage (Ziploc) with the ricotta mix. Squeeze out the air and seal. Cut the corner of ONE side on the bottom (not the top sealed side) and use this to squeeze the mix/fill the shells. Cut large enough to get a good amount out but not too big. Start stuffing the shells. You may have to pry some open to fill. It does not have to be stressful, just do the best you can and move to the next one. I like mine to pour or pop out of the top a bit to ensure a good bite once cooked,*If you do not have a Ziploc, scoop a heaping tablespoon of the ricotta mix and begin stuffing all the shells.
- Pour 1 1/2 cups of the marinara in a large baking dish. I use a 9x13 baking dish. Add the stuffed shells on top. I make a line and just go along the dish filling it up.
- Now sprinkle on the remaining mozzarella. Bake for 30 minutes or until the cheese is nice and bubbly.
- Sprinkle the fresh basil on top. Serve by scooping up some of the marinara and plating. ENJOY!
