Vegetarian Spinach and Ricotta Stuffed Shells

Stuffed shells always make me think about my grandmother Maria cooking in the kitchen all day, making Italian gravy with sausage and meatballs. Remembering the wonderful aroma that came from her kitchen takes me back to a happy time in my childhood. When the days were longer and things were simpler. Can our spinach and ricotta stuffed shells measure up?

The ingredients she put into the sauce were absolutely delicious. She made a stuffed shell that was comforting, hearty, and filling. But on the downside, it had a lot of calories and fat.

Can We Make a Healthier Version of Traditional Stuffed Shells?

Stuffed shells are an Italian tradition, of course, and everybody’s grandma has a version. Basically, you take that big box of large shells you see in the grocery store, cook them, and stuff them with a mixture of ricotta, basil, mozzarella, parmesan, and place them in a baking dish with a rich and robust meat sauce. Top with more cheese and bake to mouth-watering cheesy, saucy perfection. Some grandmas add ground meat or prosciutto and mushrooms to the ricotta mixture, too.

We’re setting out today to create a vegetarian shells recipe that’s just as tasty as Grandma’s: Vegetarian Spinach and Ricotta Stuffed Shells.

Adding Spinach Can Boost the Nutrients and Fiber in Traditional Ricotta Stuffed Shells

The first and easiest step is to eliminate the meat sauce. Right off, this will help cut down the amount of fat and calories. Next, instead of taking something away, let’s add something that will add flavor and increase the nutritional value of the dish: Spinach. Adding spinach to the filling not only adds fiber but also helps slow down your body’s absorption of carbs from the pasta.

How else can we boost up the nutrients in vegetarian stuffed shells? Let’s look at each ingredient and determine where we can cut back on fat and calories, and what can we add to boost fiber.

• First, consider the type of pasta you use. We can increase fiber in our spinach and ricotta stuffed shells with a whole grain version of the shells.
• How you cook the pasta makes a difference, too. Par-boil the pasta for 3 to 5 minutes and put in a colander to drain. Don’t overcook it or it will turn to mush and more quickly turn to starch — too much starch is not good for your body.
• Whole milk mozzarella is delicious, but with so much flavor going on in this dish, nobody will notice if you use skim mozzarella instead. Same goes for ricotta — opt for the low fat version.
• Finally, using a simple vegetable marinara sauce without additives keep the dish bright and healthy.

Let’s Talk About Which Sauces to Use

You can make vegan marina for these ricotta stuffed shells from scratch with Joan’s homemade marina sauce or you can choose from many good store brands. We generally use the 365 vegetarian or Ohio City marina sauce. Both are vegan and can be used for the stuffed shells recipe.

Healthy Leftover Tip

This dish is actually healthier the next day! Why? The starch changes structure after being cooled overnight in the frig and become a more resistant starch. Resistant starch is converted to fewer calories lessens blood sugar, and is healthier for digestion.

3 Facts About Stuffed Shells

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Please note: Nutrition facts and calories per serving are approximate.

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