Stuffed pasta shells are excellent because they allow you to eat your protein while cutting down on your carb intake. Rather than serving yourself a hardy bowl of pasta, you can serve yourself a stuffed pasta shell which can be filled with meat and veggies. The recipe below is not only delicious but rather light because it uses turkey meat instead of beef.
Ingredients
- 24 large pasta shells (12-ounce)
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1⁄2 yellow onion, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 lb ground turkey (preferably dark meat)
- salt & fresh ground pepper
- 1 (8 ounce) package frozen artichokes, thawed and coarsely chopped
- 1 (15 ounce) carton whole milk ricotta cheese
- 3⁄4cup parmesan cheese, grated
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1⁄4 cup fresh basil, chopped
- 2 tablespoons fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
- 5 cups marinara sauce
- 1 1⁄2 cups mozzarella cheese, grated
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Bring a pot of water to a boil for the shells. Cook according to package directions; drain.
- Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic and cook until onion is tender and beginning to brown, about 3 minutes.
- Add turkey, salt, and pepper, and cook until meat is light golden and heated through, stirring occasionally.
- Add artichoke hearts and stir to combine. Remove from heat; allow to cool.
- In a large bowl, combine the cooled turkey mixture with ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, eggs, basil, parsley, salt, and pepper. Stir.
- Cover the bottom of a 9×13-inch baking dish with 1 cup of marinara sauce. Holding a shell in the palm of your hand, stuff with large spoonfuls of turkey mixture, about 2 tablespoons per shell. Place each shell in the baking dish. Keep working until dish is full; you should have about 24 shells.
- Drizzle remaining marinara sauce over shells and top with grated mozzarella.
- Bake shells until warmed through and until cheese begins to brown, about 25 minutes.
Recipe source: Food.com
Photo source: jeffreyw
