I’ll admit that I was skeptical about this recipe when I first read the rave reviews on my cooking board and I’ve been holding on making it for months now for two reasons: 1.) I was afraid that chicken in stuffed shells would be dry and I didn’t need to add another dry chicken recipe to my repetoire, and 2.) I’ve never made stuffed shells before because they seemed too time consuming. Well, I was SO wrong on both accounts.
I decided to make this a Sunday night dinner because I figured they’d take more time to make than I am afforded for weeknight dinners. This was true, but really worth the extra couple of minutes, and it would have taken me less time but I made a quick tomato sauce rather than using canned or jarred.
The only changes I made to the recipe is that I used a rostisserie chicken rather than boiling a chicken breast, I made my own sauce, and added a little bit of shredded fontina cheese to the top of the shells before baking.
Kyle and I LOVED these stuffed shells and they will definitely be repeated sometime soon. They are easy to make for a nice weekend meal or fancy enough for a dinner party, and can be made ahead and frozen for another time (which I will be doing the next time I make them).
Chicken Stuffed Shells
(looking for recipe’s original source….)
- 15 uncooked jumbo pasta shells
- 2 teaspoons oil
- 2-4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 8 ounces cooked chicken
- 1(15 ounce) container fat free ricotta cheese
- 1/3 cup dry breadcrumbs
- 1 (28 ounce) can low fat marinara sauce
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tsp parsley
- Parmesan cheese for topping
- Heat oven to 400 degrees
- Spray large baking dish with nonstick cooking spray
- Cook pasta shells according to directions and drain
- Boil chicken and shred
- Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat
- Combine chicken and garlic, cook for 3-5 minutes
- Remove from heat and stir in ricotta, breadcrumbs, parsley and salt and pepper to taste
- Spread 1/2 cup sauce in the bottom of the baking dish
- Fill cooked shells with chicken mixture and place filled sides up in baking dish
- Pour remaining sauce over shells
- Bake covered with foil for 15-20 minutes, remove foil and continue baking until filling is lightly browned
- Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and serve.
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