Easy Unstuffed Shells Casserole Recipes

EASY UNSTUFFED SHELLS CASSEROLE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
• Lightly spray the 9 x 13 casserole dish you are wanting to use with your favorite non-cooking spray.
• Start preparing the meat that you will be using in the dish.
• Boil the water and cook the pasta until it's al dente. Remember to add salt to your water before you start to boil it. Refer to the time directions on the package of pasta for a general guide for your pasta. If it says it will be done between 8 - 10 minutes, pull at the pasta at 6 minutes since you will be baking it.
• Dice the onion and mince the garlic.
• In a small pan, add a teaspoon of olive oil and once it's heated, sauté the onion and garlic until it's translucent.
• Once the hamburger or other protein is ready, add the onion, garlic, and spaghetti sauce into the pan and heat thoroughly. Now when it comes to the sauce. My husband likes a lot of sauce so I used almost two full jars. You may only end up using one. This will totally be a case by case basis.
• Drain the pasta but do NOT rinse the pasta.
• In a large bowl, add 1/2 cup of the mozzarella cheese, the seasonings, egg, Parmesan, ricotta, and cream cheese if desired. Then mix the pasta and the cheese sauce together.
• In the casserole dish, layer 1/2 of the meat sauce, the add the cheesy pasta, then the rest of the meat sauce then cheese.
• Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes, remove the foil, then turn on your boiler on low and boil the cheese just until it browns. Then remove from the oven.
• Enjoy.

ITALIAN UNSTUFFED SHELLS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook until al dente according to the package directions. Drain and set aside.
• Add the tomatoes to a large bowl and use your hands to crush them into chunky pieces; set aside.
• In a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat, add the oil. Add the sausage and brown in large chunks until no pink remains, 5 to 8 minutes. Set aside on a paper towel-lined plate. Wipe out the fat from the skillet, leaving about 1 tablespoon behind. Add about a third of the tomatoes to the skillet and stir to pick up any remaining browned bits. Set aside.
• In another large bowl, add the spinach, ricotta, Parmesan, shredded mozzarella, egg, garlic, nutmeg and 1 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Mix to combine. Add the cooked pasta and sausage and gently mix.
• Add the pasta and sausage mixture to the skillet. Top with the remaining tomatoes and then the sliced mozzarella. Bake, uncovered, until heated through and the cheese is bubbling, 20 to 25 minutes. Garnish with torn basil before serving.