Creamy Primavera Shells will be your favorite dish on the next Meatless Monday. This recipe comes together so easily that you’ll want to make it again and again.
I actually came up with this recipe from a frozen entree I used to eat when I was younger and thought that it would be easy to make it homemade. Not only is it easy but it’s even more delicious.
This recipe calls for you to place the carrots in the same colander that the pasta shells will be drained. The boiling water from the pasta will parboil the carrots so that you will have firm but not crunchy carrot in your filling. If you don’t find a crisp tender carrot, feel free to skip this step. I tried it both ways and I prefer the softer carrot.
Creamy Primavera Shells is a complete meal in itself but feel free to add a salad and/or bread to this dish for your next dinner.
Mama Fawn’s Tips. . .
- Make sure you drain the frozen vegetables very well or you will have a soupy filling.
- If you aren’t a fan of the veggies in this recipe, feel free to use any variety of frozen vegetables as long as they are drained well.
- I use ricotta in this recipe but you can use cottage cheese instead, if you desire. Also you can use ½ ricotta and ½ cottage cheese. Any variety will be fine.
- Fresh parmesan works better than the jar grated parmesan for this recipe.
- Be generous filling the shells. There is plenty of filling for the shells to fill the baking dish.
Creamy Primavera Shells
Course: DinnerCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Medium6-8
servings30
minutes30
minutesIngredients
12 oz. Jumbo Pasta Shells
2 15 oz. containers ricotta
1 10 oz. frozen chopped broccoli, thawed and squeezed dried
1 10 oz. frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dried
1 cup shredded carrots
2 eggs
1 tsp salt
8 oz. shredded mozzarella, divided
¼ cup butter
¼ cup flour
2 cup milk
1 cup shredded parmesan
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsp pesto
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Add the shredded carrots to the colander that you will be draining the pasta.
- In a large pot, cook the pasta shells according to the directions. Drain (with the carrots) and cool well. Remove the shredded carrots to a paper towel to drain well.
- In a large bowl, combine the ricotta, broccoli, spinach, carrots, eggs, 1 teaspoon salt and ½ cup mozzarella. Mix well.
- Fill the shells with the cheese and vegetable mixture. Set aside.
- Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Once melted, stir in the flour until smooth. Continue stirring as the butter cooks for a few minutes. Slowly whisk in the milk until thickened. Add the shredded parmesan cheese and whisk until melted.
- Add ½ cup of cheese sauce to a 9 x 13 baking dish and spread to cover the bottom of the dish. Arrange the shells (opening up) and cover with remaining cheese sauce. Drizzle the pesto sauce over the shells and sprinkle the remaining mozzarella over the shells.
- Bake in the oven for 30 minutes until cooked through and the cheese is melted. Enjoy!
