Light & Savory: How to Make Perfect Spinach and Ricotta Stuffed Shells

In the world full of pasta recipes, most tend to choose Bolognese or Carbonara, but these options often become dull when chosen way too frequently. Luckily, the variety of recipes like this goes way beyond spaghetti and even has some refreshing spring variants like these shells stuffed with spinach and ricotta.

Apart from being somewhat healthy, this pasta dish is also very easy to make at home, so you probably already know what you’ll be eating for dinner tonight.

Ingredients: 250 g of baking shells, a large bunch of fresh spinach (350–400 g), 250 g of Ricotta cheese, 1 egg, 1 tbsp of butter, a pinch of nutmeg, freshly ground black pepper, salt.

For the béchamel sauce: 500 ml of milk, 40 g of butter, 1 tbsp of flour.

Wash the spinach. Cut it crosswise. Place it in a skillet with melted butter and simmer over low heat for about 5 minutes.

Mash the ricotta with a fork, add the egg, spinach, and nutmeg, mix thoroughly, and season with salt and pepper to taste.

In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the shells for 2–3 minutes, then place them on a plate.

Fill the shells with the spinach mixture. Arrange them in a buttered baking dish, preferably in a single layer.

Pour the béchamel sauce over the shells, cover with foil, and bake in an oven preheated to 180°C for 15 minutes; then remove the foil and bake for another 15 minutes.

Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese 5 minutes before it’s done. Serve this dish hot.