Stuffed Shells Recipe With Pistachios

Stuffed Shells made withe vegan cream cheese, spinach and pistachios. Its perfect dinner for two to enjoy on date night at home. Its a stress free meal to make with very little effort, so, you can spend more quality time with your love!

Disclaimer – All sponsored posts must have the disclaimer: This post is sponsored by BabbleBoxx.com on behalf of Bertolli®

Is there a more romantic dinner than pasta shells stuffed with pistachios and bathing in delicious tomato sauce?

No, there isn’t!

Today’s stuffed shells recipe is all about celebrating the love of your life and for me, tomato is on top of the list!

Tips for making these stuffed shells

– You can make the stuffing the night before and refrigerate

– Ideally, you want to make the shells about an hour before eating them. However, you can also cook the shells the night before, but, store them in a container and refrigerate

– Use unsalted pistachios for the stuffing, but, if you can’t find unsalted, use salted and reduce the amount of lemon pepper

– Use fresh herbs, if you can. Dried herbs will work too, if you can’t find fresh ones

– Instead of using a casserole dish, use a Dutch oven to finish the dish. Thi is because it really does a great job of evenly cooking the shells. It made my vegan paella fluffy and soft

– Nutmeg is my favorite part of the stuffing. Do not skip it! It has a nice aroma and flavor to the recipe

– The sauce itself is vegetarian, but, I preferred using vegan cream cheese in the stuffing. Its lighter in flavor than regular cream cheese

– Once again, instead of Parmesan cheese, I recommend panko breadcrumbs. As I dsicovered in my casarecce pasta recipe, breadcrumbs are so much better than cheese.

Type of sauce to use

I made a Rosa sauce for this stuffed shells recipe because it brings out all the best flavors of the meal.

The cheese, stuffing and shells all benefit from the 2 types of sauces. The Alfredo sauce helps bring down some of the strong flavors of the marinara sauce

I used Bertolli’s jarred pasta sauces for this recipe as part of the sponsored post. However, you can make your own vegan Alfredo sauce and marinara sauce.

In the past, I have used Bertolli’s pasta sauce to make vegetarian lasagna and fettuccine pasta! They are perfect in a pinch! When you are short on time, these pasta sauces are a life saver!

Making the Rosa sauce

– Add 1 cup Alfredo Sauce to a sauce pan

– Next, add 1 cup marinara

– Add crushed pistachios (optional)

– Heat on medium heat for 3 minutes and then turn off the heat

– Put some of the sauce on the plates and then top with the stuffed shells

Making these vegan stuffed shells in the Dutch oven

– Preheat oven to 400°

– Cook 8 pasta shells according to instructions. Be sure to drain all the water from it

– Use a strong bottom pan and heat it on low for 30 seconds before adding the garlic

– Add baby Spinach to the pan with the stems cut off. Do not stir it and keep heat at low

– While the spinach is cooking, add pistachio shells, lemon pepper, rosemary, parsley, nutmeg and oregano to a food processor. Grind them to almost powder form

– The spinach should be cooked to half its size. Give it a stir

– Add vegan cream cheese to the pan

– Gently work in the cream cheese with the spinach until smoothly blended

– Add the pistachio mixture to the cream cheese mixture

– Mix everything together and let it cook for about 1 minute on low heat

– Stuff the 8 shells with this spinach and cream cheese mixture. You will have about ¼ cup of the mixture left over which will be added to the Dutch oven

– In a Dutch oven, add a very thin layer of the marinara sauce

– Arrange the stuffed shells in the Dutch oven. Keep some space between them to make sure they don’t stick

– Put all the remaining marinara sauce in the pan. Cover the shells with the sauce too

– Add the remaining stuffing in between the gaps

– Top with the homemade panko breadcrumbs

– Close the lid and place the Dutch oven in the preheated oven. Cooke for 20 minutes and then turn off the oven but leave the Dutch oven inside for another 10 minutes

– Remove from the oven and place the stuffed shells with the Rosa sauce, including some of the tomato sauce from the Dutch oven

So, with which sauce will you be serving these stuffed shells?

Stuffed Shells

Rini

Stuffed Shells made with vegan cream cheese, spinach and pistachios

5 from 2 votes

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Prep Time 15 mins

Cook Time 45 mins

Total Time 1 hr

Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Servings 8 Servings

Calories 300 kcal

Ingredients

  

• 8 jumbo shells
• 24 oz marinara sauce
• 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic shredded
• 6 oz baby spinach stems removed
• 8 oz vegan cream cheese
• ¼ cup pistachios unsalted, shelled
• 1.5 tsp lemon pepper
• ½ tsp nutmeg
• 1 sprig curly parsley or ½ tsp dried parsley
• 1 tsp rosemary
• 1.5 tsp oregano
• ¼ cup panko breadcrumbs

For the Rosa Sauce

• 1 cup marinara sauce
• 1 cup Alfredo Sauce
• 2 Tbsp pistachio finely ground

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 400°
• Cook 8 pasta shells according to instructions
• Use a strong bottom pan and heat it on low for 30 seconds before adding the garlic
• Add baby Spinach to the pan with the stems cut off. Do not stir
• While the spinach is cooking, add pistachio shells, lemon pepper, rosemary, parsley, nutmeg and oregano to a food processor
• Grind them to almost powder form
• The spinach should be cooked to half its size, so, stir to mix garlic
• Add vegan cream cheese to the pan
• Gently work in the cream cheese with the spinach until smoothly blended
• Add the pistachio mixture to the cream cheese mixture
• Mix everything together and let it cook for about 1 minute on low heat
• Stuff the 8 shells with this spinach and cream cheese mixture
• Set aside any of the leftover stuffing
• In a Dutch oven, add a very thin layer of marinara sauce
• Arrange the stuffed shells in the Dutch oven
• Put all the remaining marinara sauce in the pan. Cover the shells
• Add the remaining stuffing in between the gaps
• Top with the panko breadcrumbs
• Close the lid and place the Dutch oven in the preheated oven
• Cooke for 20 minutes and then turn off the oven
• Leave the Dutch oven inside for another 10 minutes

To Make the Rosa Sauce

• Heat a medium sauce pan
  
• Add the Alfredo and Tomato sauce to it
  
• Add the ground pistachio
  
• Heat for 3 minutes and then turn it off
  
• Layer a plate with the Rosa sauce
  
• Top with the stuffed shells
  
• Garnish with parsley and serve
  

Notes

– Be sure to drain all the water from the cooked pasta shells before stuffing them

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