Cheesy pasta is a family comfort food
If food is a metaphor for a blanket, then cover up with this. Melty, cheesy stuffed pasta shells, smothered in a bright tomato sauce — and, of course, more cheese — are exactly what we need right now. This is a dish that will please everyone, no matter their age, and warm you up when the weather is miserable outside.
It takes a little time to assemble, so consider the process a meditative exercise with comforting results. Feel free to perfect the presentation, arranging the shells in tidy rows or spirals, if you like. But remember that the shells will be blanketed with sauce and cheese, so there is absolutely no need to be meticulous — unless that’s how you roll.
A meal like this is warming and satisfying in the winter. It’s also practical, because it can be assembled in advance, and the portions can be doubled to feed a crowd. I have provided a simple tomato sauce, which is all you need, but a favorite prepared tomato or marinara sauce can easily stand in.
As for the filling, I will repeat my mantra about choosing ricotta cheese: Always use a high-quality, whole-milk ricotta for best results. You want a creamy, full-flavored cheese, and the skim varieties are thin, watery and often bland or even bitter. In this recipe, I add chopped cooked spinach to the filling. While you can omit the greens altogether, I do champion their addition to the dish; it’s a wonderful way to sneak in a vegetable.
Finally, you will note that I do not parboil the shells, which happily contributes to the ease of making this dish. (This is also how I prefer to make lasagna.) I find that covering the dish with foil while it bakes and extending the cooking time results in the shells being sufficiently cooked to al dente.