This is what comfort food is all about! Pasta shells stuffed with a mixture of ricotta cheese and pesto chicken, baked in a simple white sauce, and topped with extra Mozzarella cheese.
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I’m still enjoying this beautiful weather we’ve been having. Opening the door to take little man to school in the morning has been heavenly. That gentle, cool air is just a pleasure, and riding with windows down is something I missed since last February.
I’m trying not to ruin it by reminding myself that this is Florida and there is no way that beautiful fall weather will be sticking around long in September, but I just love not having hot, sticky air punching me in the face the second I open the front door. July and August have been positively miserable, I’m so over it and that’s why I’ve been ecstatic at this nice change of weather. I just want to eat breakfast and dinner outside every day.
I didn’t forget about lunch, it just still gets a bit hot in the middle of the day. Definitely too soon for lunch outside. May be in a month or so. Who knows, may be we will actually have nice cool holidays this year. Not like last year, when we were having 90-degree weather in December.
I’ve mentioned it before, that all I want to do is to make comfort food every day to match the cooler weather. This weekend, I made these fabulous stuffed shells. My basil has finally decided to start growing like crazy so I’ve been swimming in pesto. Pesto Chicken Stuffed Shells seemed like a perfect idea.
For a family holiday a few months ago, I made these lasagna roll-ups and I filled them with a mixture of ricotta cheese and pesto chicken. People loved it so much that I decided to make a similar recipe but with stuffed shells this weekend. We couldn’t get enough.
If you notice, I decided to keep ricotta and pesto chicken in separate layers. I feel like keeping them separate, instead of mixing them together before stuffing, keeps the nice fell flavors of each layer intact. Adding simple Béchamel sauce on the bottom adds a touch of creaminess to the whole dish.
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Cheesy Pesto Chicken Stuffed Shells
Ingredients
- 20-22 jumbo pasta shells
- Pesto chicken mixture:
- 2 chicken breasts
- Salt
- Fresh cracked black pepper
- 2 Tbsp vegetable oil for cooking
- 1/2 cup pesto
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 cup Italian cheese mix
- Ricotta mixture:
- 15 oz ricotta cheese
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup Italian cheese mix
- 1 garlic clove pressed
- 5-6 basil leaves
- Salt
- Sauce:
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 1 1/2 Tbsp flour
- 1 1/2 cups whole milk
- 3 Tbsp dry Parmesan cheese
- Salt
- Fresh cracked black pepper
- Topping:
- 1 1/2 cups Mozzarella cheese
- *Optional: fresh grated Parmesan cheese when serving
Instructions
- Cook pasta shells al dente, drain and set aside. *Tip: I like to cook 2-3 extra shells just in case some get damaged as they cook. (So you can cook 25, just in case.)
- Cook chicken in a pan, over medium heat, seasoned with some salt and pepper. Once chicken is done, take it out and let it cool enough to be handled. Once it's cooled, dice the chicken.
- Preheat oven to 375. Lightly grease a 9x13 casserole dish.
- In one mixing bowl, combine diced, cooked chicken, olive oil, Italian cheese mix and pesto. Mix very well and set side.
- In another mixing bowl, combine all ingredients for ricotta mixture. Mix until all smooth and set aside.
- In a sauce pot, melt butter over medium heat. Whisk in flour until combined. Start adding milk slowly while still whisking so that the mixture is smooth. Add salt, pepper and dry Parmesan cheese. Bring sauce to simmer, stirring often.
- Pour sauce all over the bottom of the prepared casserole dish.
- Stuff each shell with some ricotta mixture, filling them about 1/3 full, and then some pesto chicken mixture.
- Nestle stuffed shells in the casserole dish, in the sauce, one right next to the other.
- Spread mozzarella cheese over the top of stuffed shells.
- Bake for about 20 minutes.
- *You can grate some Parmesan cheese right over the cooked shells as you serve it.
Notes
Check out these great recipes from other bloggers:
Lasagna Stuffed Shells from Tastes Better From Scratch
Sloppy Joe Stuffed Shells from Tornadough Alli
Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Shells from Flavor Mosaic
Philly Cheese Stead Stuffed Shells from Like Mother, Like Daughter
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Some More Recipes From Me:
Four Cheese Sausage and Chicken Parmesan Tortellini Casserole
Seafood Alfredo Stuffed Shells
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