Sausage Stuffed Pasta Shells

This crowd pleasing meal will also freeze beauifully!  Double the recipe to make sure to have enough leftovers to freeze.

Serves 4

Ingredients

  • 12-16 large pasta shells
  • 250g Chorizo sausage, casings removed
  • 1 cup ricotta cheese
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
  • 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese, divided
  • 1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
  • 2-3 cups of your favorite pasta sauce
  • 1 tbsp dried italian seasoning

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. In a medium sized frying pan, cook the sausage meat until no longer pink, making sure to break the meat into small pieces.  Once cooked through, set aside to cool. 
  3. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil.  Cook the pasta shells a 2-3 minutes less then the package directions.  You do not need to cook the pasta all the way as they will continue cooking in the oven.  Once cooked, drain the pasta and rinse with cold water so the shells do not stick together.  Set aside.
  4. In a medium sized bowl, mix together the ricotta, egg, 1 cup mozzarella, 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, basil.  Mix until all the ingredients are incorporated, then add in the sausage meat and mix again.
  5. Coat the bottom of an 11" x 9" baking dish with the pasta sauce.  
  6. Proceed to fill each pasta shell with a generous helping of the cheese/sausage mixture.
  7. Top the filled shells with remaining pasta sauce and sprinkle the remaining mozzarella and parmesan cheeses and dried italian seasoning on top.  
  8. Place aluminum foil on top of the dish and bake in the oven for 30 minutes.  Remove foil and bake for another 5 - 10 minutes or until cheese on top is browned a little.
  9. Serve immediately and freeze any leftovers.