Hi All!

Supper Sunday again- and this one is a tried-and-true favourite! I LOVE this, and it is great crowd pleaser. I think of it as a more posh lasagna to feed a crowd – because you can be all “shells stuffed with artichoke hearts and ricotta”. lol

The original recipe for this was from Giada De Laurentiis (the Food Network chef)- but it has so many modifications and changes that they’re more like distant cousins now.

Stuffed Pasta Shells


1 1/2 lbs ground pork
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 medium onion, diced
about 6 button mushrooms, diced
1 tsp pepper

1 8oz (475g) tub ricotta cheese
2 eggs
4 tbsp basil pesto (or any pesto)
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

1 cup chopped artichoke hearts (I use the ones that come in a jar)

1 box (375g) of jumbo pasta shells
1 can tomato sauce
1 cup grated cheddar cheese

Cook the ground pork with the garlic, onions and mushrooms, sprinkling the pepper over top. Once it is cooked set it off to the side to cool while you make your egg-cheese mix. – Meanwhile cook your jumbo pasta shells until they are not quite al dente, like you would if you are making lasagna.

Mix the ricotta, eggs, pesto and parmesan together.

Now (once the pork has cooled a little- but you don’t have to wait that long) mix your pork, egg-cheese mix and your chopped artichoke hearts all together in a bowl.

This is the part where your hands get messy- stuff your pork-cheese-artichoke mixture into your shells.

I like to turn the sideways like this and squeeze them and they open right up. I also like to way overstuff my shells- I’m usually left with a few extras at the end that are good to serve with a bit of sauce to anyone who doesn’t eat cheese.

Once you have stuffed all you can stuff

then you pour a bunch of sauce over the top, and sprinkle it with cheese.

Now pop it into the oven at 375 F for about 40 minutes. (the meat is already cooked- this is just to melt the cheese, cook the egg and marry all the flavours together)

This made enough for a 9X13 plus a smaller oval corning wear dish.

Now serve it with a side salad- or just on its own and BAM- delicious dinner 🙂 I promise it will be a hit!

Hope you are all having scrumptious Sundays!

xo erin