Large pasta shells stuffed with lowfat cheeses and spinach, smothered in marinara sauce and baked. You can use 2 tablespoons egg substitute in place of the egg white if you prefer. Lighten it up even more by using nonfat cottage cheese.
I substituted skim ricotta cheese for the cottage cheese and used the whole egg. I cut down a little on the Italian seasoning and added some sauted garlic and onions to the cheese mixture. It was really good.
Read MoreThere is a prominant taste of "sage" that seems to take over the recipe. The overall taste is very bland and it tastes like a typical "lowfat" recipe.
Read MoreI substituted skim ricotta cheese for the cottage cheese and used the whole egg. I cut down a little on the Italian seasoning and added some sauted garlic and onions to the cheese mixture. It was really good.
This was great! I made a few modifications though. My husband and I absolutely hate cottage cheese, so I used skim milk ricotta. I included some minced fresh garlic and added a cup each of finely chopped carrots and broccoli to the mixture. Gotta get your veggies! I will definitely make this again.
I chickened out and used part skim ricotta instead of the cottage cheese. Followed the rest of the recipe exactly. Use a meat spaghetti sauce to satisfy by meat-lovin' boyfriend. Delicious! Enjoyed the leftovers even more.
Yanno, I hate to be THAT person. You know the type. The person that changes everything up in a recipe. But I did it. I added one small onion and one garlic clove, minced and sautéed together. I also doubled up on the cottage cheese because it was just looking a little too spinach-y for me. And I'm reeeeally glad I did both of those things. It was wicked delicious, especially with a roasted red pepper/Italian sausage sauce over top. The cook time is right on, the amounts are perfect, and I'm sure it'd be just fine for some without the onion/garlic/extra cheese. The beauty of a good recipe is it's versatility, and this has it in spades. Thanks.
This was quick (not including cooking time) and easy. It was wonderful because we had all the ingredients on hand. My husband and I decided it was a keeper. (I especially liked the spinach.)
This was really good. I did add 1/2 lb of sausage that I needed to use up and I used ricotta instead of cottage cheese. My husband, son and I loved them!
There is a prominant taste of "sage" that seems to take over the recipe. The overall taste is very bland and it tastes like a typical "lowfat" recipe.
Great base recipe! I substituted 32 oz. of Ricotta instead of the Cottage Cheese, 2 eggs beaten instead of 1. I also used a small onion and 3 cloves of garlic, tossed into my food processor and then sauteed in a tsp. of olive oil which I mixed with the filling. I thawed the spinach and then used 3/4 of the box and squeezed the liquid out through some cheesecloth and put it in the food processor to make the spinach finer. I also did not use jar spaghetti sauce....The sauce really makes a difference!!! I used the Best Marinara Sauce Yet on the site and this meal tasted GOURMET!!! Yum!
i really loved these shells. they are so light and easy to make, and very much like the ones at a five star resturaunt. I ended up using a bit more sauce that listed, but i urge everyone to try this dish at least once!! thanks mamaclare
Too much flavor of the italian seasoning. I would recommend cutting it in half next time. Also needed a little kick so I added some cayenne pepper which made it much better.
Fast and easy. Tastes like it came from a high class restaurant for $20 a plate! makes enough for 2-4 when served as main course.
This was really good and I felt like I was eating healthy. I didn't realize you weren't supposed to put sauce in the shell mixture so it was really saucy but still good. I will know for next time.
Made this at Creative Cooks 4H meeting last night and both the kids and I loved it. One elementary schooler even went back for seconds. The kids are now planning this recipe for their St. Patrick's Day menu. We were eating within an hour. The nutmeg takes away any bitterness that spinach sometimes has. We fed about eight people - no left overs. Wonderful!!
After some alterations my boyfriend and I loved this dish. I'm a vegetarian and it's hard to find a meatless dish he'll eat, too, but he always requests this one. I cut the spinach by at least 2 oz. or it gets a little leafy and overpowering. I sub part skim ricotta cheese for the cottage cheese and only use one tablespoon of Italian seasoning. I found the sauce lacking unless you use a 24 oz. can. I also use closer to 18 and maybe 20 jumbo pasta shells to use all the filler up. I sometimes sprinkle the remaining 2 oz. of shredded mozzarella cheese over top before cooking to use it up. Personal choice of course. A fun variation is to use 12 lasagna noodles instead of the jumbo shells. Boil the noodles, let them cool a bit, and drop a scoop of the filling on an end and roll them up. The wet noodle sticks to itself to stay rolled. A 9x13 pan fits four rows of three PERFECTLY. Enjoy!
This was ok. My husband, however, loved it. The spinach was over powering so I may cut that amount in half next time and a little more cheese and use fresh garlic :-)
Great recipe! Taste was delicious, I used homemade sauce. My children even loved these. Will keep this recipe as a favorite.
I made these for dinner last night and thought they were pretty good. I used ricotta in place of cottage cheese, used a whole egg, and used fresh spinach in place of frozen. They didn't have a ton of flavor but were an easy, filling meal. I think I will add some sauteed veggies and maybe some more spices next time to add to the flavor.
Loved these! I used homemade marinara, and left the spinach out of about a third as hubs is not too fond. I did add about a tablespoon of garlic powder and some red pepper flake to the filling. Nice to find a lighter stuffed shells dish-Thank you KDCG!
I used fresh spinach and basil. I also added crushed garlic to the cottage cheese. I stuffed manicotti instead of shells and topped it with homemade marinara sauce. Great idea but def needed a few adjustments.
I followed the recipe to a T and I loved it! I can't even think of any modifications that I would want to make. I will definitely make this one again.
Oh NOM! Made as directed except I used fresh spinach. This was really good. Fantastically easy. I've never made shells before but this is going to be my go to.
My family loved this. I used 24 shells, a quarter cup of Parmesan cheese two containers of ricotta cheese, 2 cups of Italian cheese blend, 2 teaspoons of oregano 1 teaspoon of basil, A quarter teaspoon of garlic powder, A little salt and pepper and one whole egg.
I didn't prepare this recipe as is, but I rated it a five anyway because it served as a great starting point. I read a number of the previous reviews and decided to alter a few things myself. I added some sauteed onions, garlic and carrots to the cheese mixture, and only used about a third of the Italian seasoning. I also completely forgot the egg whites, but that didn't seem to be a real problem. I also used a canned spaghetti sauce with added browned ground turkey. My family all really enjoyed it, and everyone was excited to have leftovers to take to work tomorrow for lunch. I made enough for 8 servings, and served 5 - it looked like we had about enough for 3 servings left, so I would say it's a pretty accurate representation of yield. This is definitely one that we'll make again.
My mother made something very similar to this when I was growing up. I remember her draining the cottage cheese in a coffee filter, in addition to draining the spinach so it didn't get quite to soupy. She also skipped the nutmeg - it's a nice addition, but if you don't have some on hand, don't worry about it. I seem to remember my mother freezing big pans of these and reheating as needed. I'd be curious to know if anyone else has tried this and had success.
My 2 1/2 old son loved this. I did add shredded chesse to the top and more sauce. I liked it also. I have had this before, but wanted to make sure I remembered all ingrediants. Good job, will make more often.
This was a great low fat, fast meal to cook. I used more sauce then suggested. Next time I may add a lowfat meat to give it a little more zing. It is definitely a keeper in my family. Nicole
This is a wonderful, completely delicious lowfat meal. It is wonderful with Five Brother's Spaghetti Sauce-esp. garlic and mushrooms!
Way too much spinach. I know it is healthy but I think I will cut it down next time. My husband doesn't usually like stuffed pasta, but he agreed I should make this again.
Too much spinach! There was a good base, and definitely substitute the cottage cheese for low-fat ricotta next time. It has potential, and some of my family liked it, so gave it 3 starts.
This was really good. I used skim milk ricotta instead of cottage cheese. I also added a little minced garlic. Make sure your spinach is drained really well or it will be watery. I usually just squeeze mine in some paper towels or a cloth. I served this with Baked Chicken Nuggets from this site and it was a perfect match.
These were really tasty and easy to make. I loved the cheesy spinach goodness stuffed into a shell. The only things I did differently from this recipe is that I didn’t use any of the “low fat” dairy products. Cook in the style you are comfortable with but I don’t purchase any products modified to be “low fat.” I also used a whole egg as opposed to just the white.
These are great! It takes a little time to get all the shells stuffed, so I usually only make them when my fiance has time to cook with me. If you want to make them a little more hearty, you can add browned ground turkey (or beef, if you prefer) to the filling. My fiance thinks there isn't enough sauce with the original recipe, so we add a little extra. Nothing else needs to be changed!
My husband doesn't like spinach so instead I added cooked chicken breast. I also covered it with mozzarella cheese. It was great!
My husband and I loved this. We used the cottage cheese and followed the recipe except we added pepperoni. Fantastic. Will make again and again. Thanks for the recipe. Update: I have made this 4 times now. It is very adaptable! Last time used fresh arugula instead of spinach and it was great!
I used Manicotti Shells, Ricotta Cheese instead of cottage cheese and put lots of Mozzarella cheese on top. Everyone loved it. Think I will use fresh spinach next time.
I followed this recipe except I didn't have nutmeg and I used about 1 tablespoon of the italian seasoning. The filing was way over powered with seasoning. I think fresh basil or parsley would help this recipe so much. I will retry with fresh seasonings.
I wish I could give this recipe 4.5 stars because it is pretty close to perfect. I made a few adjustments according to what I had on hand. I used a little less mozzarella cheese than called for, fat free cottage cheese instead of low fat, and about 2/3 spinach and 1/3 bok choy leaves because I had that left over from a recipe from earlier this week. I may amp up future spaghetti sauce I use with meat and more veggies. Overall, it came out quite delicious!
This recipe is super-tasty straight out of the oven, and healthy too! My only qualm is that the next day, reheated, they tasted a little bit bitter. Cold, they were fine! Go figure!
I add extra spices, including some fennel seeds, but otherwise I follow the recipe to a "T" and love this healthy recipe so much I make it a few times a month. Thanks a million for making stuffed shells guilt free!
These are pretty good, compared to the ones I usually make with ricotta. That said, I wish those who choose to rate the recipe would rate it as is, because I, for one, rely on the average rating when deciding whether to try a recipe. I notice quite a few reviewers used ricotta, or made other substantial changes
Really tasty, and not hard to make. I added about 2T of minced garlic to the stuffing mix. And since the shredded cheese I purchased was in an 8oz bag, I put the rest of the 2oz on top of the dish. Remove the foil for the last 15 minutes of baking.
This recipe was a success at our house. I did tweak it a little using ricotta cheese instead of cottage cheese, but I also browned some italian flavored turkey burger and added that to the mixture and they turned out great.
We make this regularly. We use ricotta instead of cottage cheese. I put the ricotta, spinach, egg, and herbs in the food processor and whip it all up. I also use homemade marinara sauce instead of jarred. LOVE IT!
I liked this a lot, but next time I will try it with ricotta cheese and fresh spinach! I also added fresh mushrooms to the sauce. They were good, but they would have been better if I did not have to use fat free everything!
This recipe was fast any easy. A great way to use of the fresh spinach I had in my fridge.
This recipe was good, but was strong on the Italian seasoning, I would cut the amount in half like other users recommended.
I used ricotta cheese instead of cottage because that's what a previous recipe I had called for. I just added garlic salt, basil, oregano, thyme, and pepper to the filling. Turned out fine.
i made these for my family and they enjoyed them. i was pleasantly surprised that the nutmeg worked in the recipe and the cottage cheese wasn't disastrous like i thought it would be.
This is awesome! So quick and easy! I halfed the Italian spice and didn't add the nutmeg, though. I'll definitely be making this again.
Definitely a first for me but they came out really well and my boyfriend loved them :)
This is what I get for following a recipe exactly. Ricotta would have been better, and 2 tablespoons of Italian seasoning was incredibly overpowering.
Yummy! We loved this recipe. Fancy enough to serve company but down home enough to serve weeknight and very fast. We had it with a salad and garlic cheese bread.
I made this recipe for a family dinner and thought as I was putting the ingredients together that 2 tablespoons of Italian seasoning seemed like way too much. It certainly was -- the seasoning was overpowering. Could that have been a typographical error?
I will make it again, I used more mozzarella and added an extra egg white. My husband who loves pasta , said to put a big star on this recipe!! Easy to make and I did leave it in the oven about 10 minutes longer to make sure everything was nice and gooey!! Yum
Loved this. Used ricotta, 2/3 amount of Italialn seasoning., whole egg.. That would have made it 5 stars for us anyway. I rated it as is. Not sure if ricotta made any difference. Just wanted to try it since I had never had ricotta before.
I came across this recipe today while I was thinking about dinner shopping. I'm not much of a cottage cheese fan, so I used part skim ricotta instead. Came out fantastic!
I tried a "meatless" night on my guys hoping they would go for it. They ate the shells, but kept asking me what type of meat was in them. They ate them, but thought they would be better with sausage. I really liked them and would make them again, a few without meat for me, the rest with added meat for them. We thought 2 TB of Italian seasoning was a little much. The next time I will only add 1 1/2 TB.
These were pretty great. Definitely don't skip the nutmeg, that flavor makes the whole dish.
Very good. Our household enjoyed it. Next time I'll try to play with spices to give it just that little something extra.
Great base recipe. I used fresh spinach, ricotta cheese, vodka sauce and a whole egg. Also, after baking for about 30 minutes I removed the aluminum foil, put on more cheese and put it back in to brown. Yum!!! A keeper!!
substituted as follows: Whole milk ricotta for cottage cheese Fontina for mozzarella Whole egg for egg white And used more parmesean than it called for So, no longer low fat, but tasted delicious
