Spinach and Butternut Squash Stuffed Shells

Name: Spinach and Butternut Squash Stuffed Shells
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 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

by Nicole | nutritiousnicole_rdn

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

Spinach and Butternut Squash Stuffed Shells

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Recipe details

Yield 4 People
Time spent: Prep time: 15 Minutes Cook time: 30 Minutes Total time: 45 min

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% Daily value

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

Comments

Victoria McMackin on Dec 12, 2021

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

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