January is made for comfort food. It’s chilly and snowing just a bit which made it the perfect time to make these Cheesy Shells with Meatballs. Full disclosure: this is one of those times that you can bought store bought parts of this meal. I included directions on how to make meatballs, but you can also go buy some pre-cooked frozen meatballs. And I didn’t make the marinara or pesto sauces either — store bought is just fine. While people have this perception that it is hard to stuff shells (or manicotti, for that matter), if you cook the pasta al dente, it isn’t much of an issue. Enjoy!
Ingredients
for the Meatballs
1/2 cup plain panko crumbs
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 pound ground beef
1 pound ground pork
2 eggs
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon dried Italian herb seasoning
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste
For the Shells and Stuffing
18-24 jumbo pasta shells, cooked according to package directions
15 ounces ricotta cheese
2 eggs
1/4 cup prepared pesto (store bought is fine)
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon corn starch
salt and pepper to taste
For putting it all together
3 cups marinara sauce (Store bought is fine)
1 cup grated mozzarella
1 cup grated fontina
a handful yellow cherry tomatoes (optional, but it looks pretty)
3 tablespoons fresh basil, to garnish
You will need: a deep 9 x 9 inch casserole dish or baking pan
Directions
First, make your meatballs. The directions will make more than what is necessary for this dish. I almost always have some of these frozen, on hand, to quickly make a dinner.
Cover a baking sheet with foil and spray lightly with cooking spray. Soak panko in milk in a small bowl for 20 minutes. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Cook and stir onions in hot oil until translucent, about 20 minutes. Mix beef and pork together in a large bowl. Stir onions, panko mixture, eggs, parsley, garlic, salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes, Italian herb seasoning, and Parmesan cheese into meat mixture with a rubber spatula until combined. Cover and refrigerate for about one hour. Preheat an oven to 425 F. Using wet hands, form meat mixture into balls about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Arrange onto prepared baking sheet. Bake in the preheated oven until browned and cooked through, 15 to 20 minutes. These can be eaten straight away or frozen for up to 1 month.
While finishing up your meatballs, boil the shell pasta according to the package directions. They should be al dente. Mix together the ricotta, eggs, pesto, parmesan, corn starch and salt and pepper.
Preheat oven to 375F. Prepare your baking casserole with one cup of the marinara sauce spread on the bottom. Fill the stuffed shells with the ricotta mixture and place on the marinara sauce. You can either do this with a small spoon (which I did) or fill the filling into a ziplock bag, cut off a small corner and fill the shells like with a piping bag. I only managed to get in 18 shells, but you might be able to get in more (most packages come with 24-25 shells. Once you have them all nestled in, tuck in 8-10 meatballs and a handful of cherry tomatoes. Add over the remaining marinara and sprinkle on your grated cheeses. At this point, you could cover with foil and wait up to 24 hours to bake or, you can cover with foil and start to bake immediately. Bake covered with foil for 45 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for an additional 15 minutes. Let sit/set up for 15 minutes before sprinkling with chopped fresh basil and serving.
