Sausage and Spinach Stuffed Shells with Garlic Cream Sauce

A rustic, simple recipe for pasta shells stuffed with Italian sausage, spinach and mozzarella topped with an easy garlic cream sauce.

📝 Ingredients

• 10 ounces jumbo shells (approximately 20-25 shells)
• 1.25 pounds hot Italian sausage, casings removed if applicable
• 1 10-ounce box frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
• 8 oz fresh mozzarella cheese, shredded (2-3 cups)
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 4 cloves garlic, smashed (not minced)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

👨‍🍳 Instructions

1. 1Prepare Garlic Cream Sauce first so that it can be doing its thing while you’re cooking everything else.
2. 2Cook shells in liberally salted water per manufacturer’s instructions for al dente preparation. Drain and rinse then allow to drain again.
3. 3Meanwhile, crumble sausage in a large skillet and cook until nicely browned. Remove sausage with a slotted spoon and place in a large mixing bowl.
4. 4Add drained spinach to sausage then stir well.
5. 5Add half of mozzarella then stir to combine.
6. 6Spray a 13x9 (or 14x10) baking dish with cooking spray. Stuff shells with sausage mixture then arrange in baking dish. If you have any sausage mixture left over, just spoon it in between the shells. Sprinkle remaining mozzarella over shells.
7. 7Remove garlic pieces from garlic cream sauce then spoon sauce into and over stuffed shells. Cover dish with aluminum foil then bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until sauce is bubbly and cheese is melted.
8. 8Garnish with additional fresh grated parmesan if desired.
9. 9Add cream and smashed garlic to a saucepan then cook over medium heat until simmering, stirring occasionally (to smash your garlic, just lay your chef’s knife over each clove and give it a good whack or two).
10. 10Once sauce begins to simmer, add salt and nutmeg then reduce heat to medium-low. Continue simmering, uncovered, for 15-20 minutes or until sauce coats the back of a spoon, stirring occasionally.
11. 11Whisk in parmesan cheese then continue cooking over low heat for 2 minutes. Remove from heat until ready to use.