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Spinach and Butternut Squash Stuffed Shells

by Nicole | nutritiousnicole_rdn
(IC: instagram)
4 People
45 min
I love comfort food as much as the next person ESPECIALLY pasta. But it is possible to make comfort foods nourishing as well!
These spinach & butternut squash stuffed shells are the ultimate comfort food but also have a great serving of vegetables, protein, and healthy fat
I made them for some friends yesterday and they kept asking for seconds 🙌
The base I used for this recipe is Trader Joe's Autumn Squash Soup but any tomato-based pasta sauce will work well. I haven't tried it but an alfredo sauce might be good too. Use whatever your preference is
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Spinach and Butternut Squash Stuffed Shells
Recipe details
Ingredients
Spinach and Butternut Squash Stuffed Shells
- 1 box of jumbo pasta shells
- 1/2 cup diced butternut squash
- 2 cups uncooked spinach
- 1 10 oz. container of ricotta cheese
- 2 sprigs of thyme
- 2 sprigs of rosemary
- 1/2 onion diced
- 3/4 cup grated gruyere cheese
- 1/4 cup pancetta
- 1/2 cup tomato based pasta sauce
Instructions
Spinach and Butternut Squash Stuffed Shells
- 1. Cook jumbo pasta shells according to package directions
- 2. Preheat oven to 400
- 3. In a small mixing bowl, mix diced butternut squash with 1 tbsp olive oil, salt, pepper, and (optional) 1 tsp black garlic
- 4. Place butternut squash mixture on a cooking sheet and put rosemary and thyme sprigs on top. Bake for 10 minutes until softened and slightly crisp
- 5. in a small sauce pan cook spinach, pancetta, and onion for 4-5 minutes until softened
- 6. In a medium mixing bowl, mix ricotta cheese, 1/2 cup gruyere, onion, spinach, butternut squash, thyme, and rosemary
- 7. On a 9x12 baking pan, pour preference of sauce (I used Trader Joe's Autumn Squash soup as the sauce)
- 8. Stuff pasta shells with mixture (about 1 tbsp per shell)
- 9. Place shells on baking sheet and spread remainder gruyere on top
- 10. Bake in oven for 15-20 minutes until cheese is slightly browned
Tips
- Any pasta sauce will work, I prefer tomato based for this recipe but do whatever works for you
- I recommend making the mixture ahead of time and stuffing the shells later to reduce work time
Published November 23rd, 2021 12:00 PM
Comments
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You have spinach in both steps 5 and 6. Is it the spinach mixture that is created in step 5 added to step 6 or should the spinach be divided, as in, 1 cup in step 5 and 1 cup in step 6? Thanks