This stuffed pasta dish is a real showstopper! It takes some time to prepare, but we promise it's worth it. With rich, meaty stuffing inside tender pasta shells and topped with plenty of melty cheese, what's not to love?
Below we added some of our communities most common hints and tips.
We hope you find them useful.
How to Batch
Cool within 2 hours of cooking, then divide the cooked recipe into individual portions and freeze immediately.
You can make the bolognese sauce in advance and keep it in the freezer. Please make sure it is fully defrosted before reheating. You can also serve the stuffed pasta shells as a dish of their own - just cook the pasta a little longer and according to the time stated on the packet instructions.
Added extra veg
I added finely diced courgette and some chopped vine tomatoes that needed using up. I also added chopped fresh basil.
Great batch cook or larger family meal
Piping the filling into the shells was actually really easy. I pressure cooked the bolognaise then ‘baked’ the shells on top all in my Ninja 15-1
Amazing
Finally got around to do this and wow it was fantastic I didn’t use mince but used leftover beef joint was so good.
I substituted beef mince for quorn mince and cooked it for less time in the oven as the quorn mince doesn't need cooking for as long
Really tasty, we all enjoyed it, not hard to make.
When making it again, I would put the cheese and spinach mixture back in the fridge for a short while before piping it into the shells just because it was a really soft mixture so was almost running out the bag.
1
So easy to make and tasted great.
Cooked in my Ninja on slow cooker and then on bake/roast for the last part
Cook the bolognese in my instant pot which is super easy
Using a piping bag made it messy, defo recommend 2 spoons when filling the shells
As delicious as the original recipe but quicker, looks great
I added extra liquid and the beef tomato pulp to oven cook the pasta in the cooked mince mixture. I stuffed beef tomatoes with the cream cheese filling. Absolutely delicious, looks great and easy to do!
A tasty meal for all the family
Usually I use a piping bag to stuff the pasta but today I used a teaspoon and found it easier and less messy
I used 2 pieces of jar sweet peppers as I had some to use up and also uncovered and cooked bolognese for an extra 5 minutes to make sure sauce was lovely and thick.
A little fiddly to fill the pasta shells but worth it
By pinching the pasta shells at the edges when filling, opens them up to make it easier to fill
Couldn't get large pasta shells
I couldn't get large pasta shells so I just put the cream cheese stuffing onto fresh lasagne sheets and rolled it up (just like cannelloni) then carried on with the recipe as normal
Add spring onion
We didn’t have any spinach so we added spring onion instead x
Delicious, easy to follow recipe
I did the Bolognese using the slow cooker method. Only change I made was addition of red wine stock cube for added flavour.
I just cannot believe how great this tastes.
Making the bolognese sauce is easy, as is cooking the pasta. Filling the pasta is tricky and I’ve found using a spoon to fill them works really well. Had the grandchildren round last week, and they loved it.
No large pasts shells
We didn't have any large pasta shells available and couldn't find any, so we instead decided to make the sauce and mix in with various pasta shapes, then put across the top of the bolognese like a lasagna layer, was lovely.
Beautiful dish, enjoy the process of making it, don't rush!
I made this in 4 individual serving dishes which made serving it so much easier, and it looked lovely on the plates. I served it with salad and garlic bread.
Vegetarian Mince
I changed the beef mince to vegetarian mince and added 200ml of water since the vegetarian mince is a bit dryer. It came out perfect!
Stuffed bolognese - absolute dream!
I always transfer to a normal pasta bake dish from the slow cooker for a nicer finish. Really good if you add a small amount of garlic granules sprinkled on with the cheese!
Can't get enough of this dish!
Wow... this dish is amazing. It looks fantastic served from the dish. I ate mine with an Italian style side salad. My family just can't get enough of the creamy pasta shells. Confession... I have to make more shells to feed my hungry teenagers!
This is so tasty, highly recommend
Make sure you push the shells well into the sauce or else they dry out a bit
A very easy recipe to prepare and cook
I would highly recommend using a piping bag to stuff the pasta shells. This recipe is very easy to prepare and cook, it’s very tasty and a very much loved dinner in my house including all my children.
Get yourself a pipping bag for this
I’ve done something similar to this before and know this can be long winded. First time I used a teaspoon and it took forever. You really need a pipping bag to do this. Don’t let it put you off making this as the end result is amazing. Absolute Nom!
Didn't have ricotta so cooked frozen butternut squash and mixed it with cream cheese and spinach. Tastes amazing and use small grater for cheese on top. Goes a long way
Worth the prep time
It can be fiddly but the taste is definitely worth the prep time. I didn't have a piping bag, so just used a small spoon. This also split across two dishes and I made it to serve 6.
But the largest size pasta you can find
Measure your dish before filling the pasta
Stuffed Pasta bolognese
Use a piping bag for the cream cheese filling
Very tasty recipe. Perfect for a cold winters day.
Followed the recipe in the book (I halve as there are only 2 of us) and it was perfect 👌
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‘A hearty filling meal that everyone will love. Packed full of hidden veg which is perfect for the kids’
Hey Glenda, The pasta shells are available in some supermarkets I’ve just had a look online and they are available from Sainsbury’s, Ocado or Amazon. Hope that helps!
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GlendaSunday 23rd October 2022
Where can you get the extra large pasta shells?
HollyMonday 24th October 2022
Hey Glenda, The pasta shells are available in some supermarkets I’ve just had a look online and they are available from Sainsbury’s, Ocado or Amazon. Hope that helps!
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