Pasta filled with spinach and ricotta with red pepper

Instructions for the shells

1. Preheat the oven to 180 °C. Pour half of the tomato sauce into a prepared baking dish. About 15 pieces of pasta fit into my dish. Try to count how many fit into your baking dish, but keep in mind that you need to cook a few extra shells because some may tear during cooking or filling.

2. Cook the pasta in salted water and meanwhile prepare the filling. Let the frozen spinach thaw at room temperature for at least two hours, then squeeze out all the excess water using a cloth. The spinach added to the mixture must be completely dried.

3. Add the ricotta, two grated mozzarellas, grated parmesan, egg, basil, salt, freshly ground red pepper, 1 clove of garlic – finely chopped and mix everything well.

4. Fill the cooked pasta with the mixture. Add about 2–3 teaspoons of the mixture into each shell. Place the filled pasta into the baking dish and cover with the remaining tomato sauce. Sprinkle the entire surface of the pasta with the remaining grated mozzarella and bake for about 30 minutes.

5. Cover the dish with foil and bake for 20 minutes, then remove the foil for the last 10 minutes to let the pasta brown until the cheese is nicely melted.

Author's tip

If you have leftover filling, you can fill the remaining pasta shells and freeze them before baking. Whenever you want something tasty, just take them out of the freezer and bake exactly as instructed above.

Enjoy your meal!

Author: kavarenska.povalecka