Lasagna Stuffed Pasta Shells!

This was the perfect Sunday Dinner. Hearty, filling, and delicious! I love lasagna, but I am not a fan of all the time & work it takes to put it together (See: Lasagna Skillet). I am a big fan of taking all of the flavors in lasagna and putting them in a dish that doesn't take much time, but doesn't cut out any key lasagna components. 

Cheesy, saucy, meaty, deliciousness.

You'll have to bear with me this post because I probably didn't take enough pictures... I'm sorry, I was anxious to get this baby made and eaten before my Sunday night television (last night it was the Bachelorette finale:)). Don't let that discourage you though, this is GOOD stuff. We pretty much devoured it, there were 4 shells left and they were THE BOMB for lunch this afternoon. Serve it with some garlic bread and a side salad and you're perfect. A glass of wine on the side doesn't hurt either... ;)

Ingredients:
20 jumbo pasta shells
1 lb. ground beef
1 Tbsp. onion powder
1 1/2 bottles of marinara sauce (obviously you could make your own, I was cutting corner for sunday dinner :-)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. italian seasoning
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
2 eggs
3 cups ricotta cheese
1 (16 oz.) bag of shredded mozzarella cheese 
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tsp. salt
fresh cracked black pepper


Step 1: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Season ground beef with onion powder and brown ground beef in a skillet over medium-high heat and drain. Return ground beef to skillet and add marinara sauce. Season with salt, italian seasoning, and garlic powder. Heat on medium heat.

Step 2: Cook about 20 pasta shells according to the box directions, drain, and set aside. 

Step 3: In a large bowl whisk the 2 eggs until beaten. Add the ricotta cheese, about 3/4 of the bag of mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese, salt, and black pepper and stir until combined.

Step 4: Transfer the cheese mixture to a gallon sized ziploc bag.

Push the mixture into a corner and twist the top, like a pastry bag.

Cut the corner off so you can pipe the mixture out.

Step 5: Pour half of the meat sauce mixture into a casserole dish.

Step 6: Start piping the cheese mixture into the pasta shells and place in the casserole dish.

Fill all of the pasta shells and top with remaining meat sauce and mozzarella cheese.

Bake in a preheated oven for about 30 minutes, or until cheese is golden and bubbly. Let sit for 5 minutes and serve!