Stuffed shell pasta with a creamy sage and ricotta filling and tomato sauce. This simple recipe is incredibly delicious, appetizing, vegan, and healthy. It is ideal for lunch or dinner and is also great for meal prep.
Stuffed shell pasta is simply my favorite pasta recipe. The spicy, homemade tomato sauce, the softly baked shell noodles with a creamy ricotta filling, and delicious cheese. My heart opens up!
Somehow I think that the ricotta cream in this recipe combines particularly well with the pasta dough and pasta is even more delicious this way. I hope you try it out!
Have fun cooking,
Elisabeth
Stuffed Shell Pasta - this is how the recipe works right away
It took me a little practice to cook the recipe in such a way that it actually works, the pasta does not disintegrate and the filling matches the pasta in terms of quantity.
So that the recipe works for you right away, I have summarized the most important tips for you.
Tips for preparing the shell pasta
Cook the pasta in a pan: I recommend that you cook the pasta in a large pan so that the shell noodles don’t disintegrate when they are pre-cooked. So they can simmer side by side without breaking each other.
Pre-cook the pasta, not through The pasta needs to be soft enough to open and fill it. So you should pre-cook it (as described above). But only so long that they are just soft enough to work with. They must not be cooked through, because otherwise, they break easily. In addition, they will be baked in the oven.
Be careful when pouring the pasta: As described, my shell pasta is always easily broken. To prevent this, you should be careful when draining the pasta.
Don’t underestimate the filling cream: The amount of pasta seems a little small, but the ricotta filling makes the recipe very filling. Of course, the information is always a bit relative and you can do more, but don’t underestimate the filling.
More Tips for you pasta dish
Spirulina for more color: To give my ricotta a nice green color, I added some spirulina powder. This is of course optional and the recipe tastes just as good without spirulina. But if you want to add a little more color to your dish, this is a great option.
Use spinach instead of sage: If you are not a fan of sage or don’t have one, you can also use spinach wonderfully. A spinach and ricotta filling is a great alternative and tastes great too!
Don’t season the tomato sauce too much: I recommend not to season the tomato sauce too much, because it should not suppress the delicious taste of the sage.
Use leftover ricotta as a spread: Depending on how big your shell noodles are, some of the sage ricotta filling may be leftover. This is not a problem at all, because you can store the cream in the refrigerator and use it as a spread within 1-2 days.
Step-by-step instructions for the stuffed shell pasta recipe
1) Prepare all the ingredients.
2) Blend together the Sage Ricotta.
3) Prepare the tomato sauce.
4) Put tomato sauce to an oven dish.
5) Place stuffed shell pasta next to each other.
6) Bake and enjoy!
Stuffed Shell Pasta with creamy Sage-Ricotta (Vegan)
Prepare the sage ricotta filling: Wash the sage and pluck off all the leaves. Crumble the tofu and put it with the remaining ingredients in a high-performance blender (or mix all ingredients with a hand blender in a bowl) until it has a creamy consistency and all ingredients are very fine. Put the cream in the refrigerator so it can steep a little longer.
Prepare the tomato sauce: Wash the tomatoes and cut them into cubes. Peel the onion and garlic and cut them into cubes. Now put the tomatoes, vegetable broth, sugar, onion, and garlic in a blender and puree all the ingredients until you get a fine sauce. Put them aside.
Preheat the oven to 180ºC (forced air).
Prepare the shell pasta: It’s best to take a large pan and bring salted water to a boil in it. When the water boils, carefully add the shell noodles. Be careful that they don’t break and that each noodle has some space. Now let the pasta simmer for about 4 minutes. They should still be a little hard because they’re still being baked, but still soft enough to fill.
Carefully drain the noodles and let them cool a little.
Now prepare a baking dish and pour in the tomato sauce so that the whole base is nicely covered.
Fill each shell noodle with the sage ricotta filling and place them next to each other on the tomato sauce. It’s best to use a teaspoon with it. If you have any leftover ricotta filling, you can store it in the refrigerator and use it as a spread.
Sprinkle some vegan grated cheese over the pasta and bake everything for 15-20 minutes until the cheese is nice and brown.
