Johnsonville Sausage
Recipes
Shells with Italian Sausage and Ricotta Stuffing
Submitted by: The Kitchen at Johnsonville Sausage
Shells and cheese can be a great snack, but Johnsonville can transform it into a meal! This recipe combines all of your favorite Italian cheeses with the savory deliciousness of Johnsonville Italian Sausages. The result? An authentic Italian dish that will leave your stomach full and happy!
- Servings: 6
- Cook: 50 minutes
Shells with Italian Sausage and Ricotta Stuffing
What you need
- 1box(12.5 ounce) jumbo shells, cooked al dente
- 1tablespoonextra virgin olive oil
- 1packageJOHNSONVILLE® Mild or Sweet Italian Ground Sausage, or links
- 2jars(25 ounces) marinara sauce, or 5 to 6 cups of your favorite sauce
- 2largeeggs
- 1 tub(15 ounce) ricotta cheese, whole or part skim
- 4cupsshredded mozzarella cheese, divided
- 1cupgrated Parmesan cheese, divided
- 1/2cupgrated Romano cheese
- 1/4cupfresh basil, chopped (or 1 tablespoon dried)
- 1/2teaspoonfreshly ground black pepper
- 2tablespoonsfresh parsley, chopped (or 1 teaspoon dried)
Preparation
- 1Cook pasta according to package directions, drain and rinse with cold water.
- 2In a 10 inch skillet, cook sausage on medium heat, crumbling it into small pieces as it cooks. Allow it to cook through, then set aside to cool.
- 3Preheat oven to 350˚F.
- 4Using a pastry brush, coat the sides and bottom of a 15 x 10 x 2 inch baking dish with olive oil. Pour half the sauce on the bottom of the baking dish, set aside.
- 5In a large bowl beat the egg, mix in the ricotta, 2 1/2 cups of mozzarella, 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese, Romano cheese, basil, ground pepper and the cooked sausage.
- 6Fill each cooked shell with the sausage mixture and nestle them in sauce. Once all the shells are filled, top them with the remaining sauce, 1 1/2 cups of mozzarella, and 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese.
- 7Bake covered until bubbly, about 45 minutes.
- 8Uncover and continue cooking about 5 more minutes.
- 9Let stand 5 minutes, sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve.
