Caprese Stuffed Shells

September 27, 2019

Kory Cheshier

Photographer and blogger, Elizabeth Wiseman loves caprese salad, but she has a couple thoughts. “First, the proportions are all wrong. Why so much mozzarella?! Second, cold is good, but baked is better, especially when it comes to mozzarella cheese. So my idea was to create Caprese Stuffed Shells–my perfect caprese salad atop a beautiful dish of shells stuffed with sun-dried tomato cream and ricotta. It’s decadent to say the least.” Then it’s all baked and you get the perfect cheesey pasta dish.

Ingredients

12 ounces jumbo shell pasta

7 ounces oil packed sundried tomatoes, undrained

1 cup (4 ounces) grated parmesan cheese, divided

1 cup cherry tomatoes

handful fresh basil and Italian parsley

salt and pepper

24 ounces whole milk ricotta cheese

3 large tomatoes, thinly sliced

8 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese

olive oil for drizzling

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400ºF.

2. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Boil pasta for 9 minutes, drain. Set aside to cool.

3. To prepare sundried tomato pesto, place sundried tomatoes (and the oil), ½ cup parmesan, and cherry tomatoes in a food processor. Pulse just until chunky. Taste for salt and pepper. Pulse again. Remove from processor bowl and stir in herbs.

4. Combine ricotta cheese and 1 cup sundried tomato pesto; stir well. Using your hands or a spoon, place the ricotta mixture into each shell.

5. In a 8 x 8 – inch baking dish, spread remaining sundried tomato pesto on bottom. Place stuffed shells opening side up on top of pesto. Top with tomato slices. Tear the mozzarella and sprinkle over the top of the tomatoes. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup parmesan and salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil.

6. Cover and bake for 25 minutes. Uncover and bake 10-15 more minutes or until top is beginning to brown and sauce bubbles.

Cook’s Tips:

• The sundried tomato pesto is fantastic on its own or simply tossed with pasta or served with crackers as a dip.

• Use whole milk ricotta, which is more flavorful and less chalky than part-skim.

• For carnivores, add Italian sausage to the filling.