Homemade Lasagna Recipe With Stuffed Shells

I think I’m on an Italian kick this week.  Yesterday afternoon storms were coming through and the rain was pounding on my windows.  It made us want to make something comforting and hearty.  I decided to make this homemade lasagna recipe using stuffed shells and Mezzetta Pasta Sauce since I didn’t have any lasagna noodles in my cupboard.  I am so excited about how it turned out!  To be honest, I found it easier than regular lasagna and easier to portion out for dinner.

One of my biggest complaints about making lasagna is how many ingredients it takes.  Sometimes I just want dinner to be super simple.  However, I’ve found that it really takes a variety of ingredients to truly make a great homemade lasagna recipe.  What I like about this recipe is that it freezes well if you want to make a double batch.  It’s also easy to portion it out for leftovers, which is what I did for my hubby’s lunch.

Are you ready to make this awesome recipe?!

To make one pan of lasagna you will need:

2 TB olive oil
1/2 lb ground beef
1/2 lb Italian sausage
1/2 medium yellow onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, diced
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
25 oz jar of Mezzetta Pasta Sauce  (I used the Roasted Garlic and Caramelized Onions version.)
6 oz package of fresh spinach
16 oz ricotta cheese
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
2 large eggs
2 TB fresh basil, chopped
2/3 of 12 oz jumbo pasta shells

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

The first thing you need to do is to cook the jumbo pasta shells according to the directions.  While it’s boiling, add the olive oil to a large pan on medium-high.  Saute the onion and garlic for about five minutes.  Add the Italian sausage and ground beef and cook thoroughly.  Drain the meat and then return to the stove.  Add the salt and pepper, 1/2 cup of the pasta sauce, and the spinach.

Stir the meat mixture until the spinach is wilted.  Remove from the heat.

Right about now the noodles should be done.  Drain the pasta.

*TIP* Fill a pan with cold water and add the pasta shells to keep them from sticking as you put the lasagna shells together.

In a bowl mix together 1 cup of mozzarella with ricotta cheese, basil, and eggs.

Mix the meat mixture together with the cheese mixture.  I was afraid the cheese would melt with the heat from the meat mixture.  However, I realized it’s all going to cook together anyways, right?

Add 1/2 cup of pasta sauce to the bottom of a 9×13 pan after spraying it with cooking spray.

Using a cookie scoop, add the lasagna cheese mixture to the shells.  They were easy to fill.

Keep on filling shells until the pan is full.  I used about 25 jumbo shells.

The last step is an easy one and one that would be great for kids to help with!  (That is, unless they’re napping.) 🙂

Add the remaining Mezzetta pasta sauce to the top of the shells.

Top with 1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese.  Cover the lasagna shells with foil and bake for 40 minutes.  Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

That’s it!  I absolutely love how this recipe turned out.  It was a huge hit with my family!

The best thing about using the shells is how easy it is to scoop each one out to serve.  I ended up having a lot of leftovers and filled quite a few Tupperware containers for my hubby to take to work.

Enjoy!

Looking for another delicious lasagna? Give this Mexican Lasagna Recipe or this Easy Meat Lasagna Recipe a try!