Olive Backyard Big Cheese Stuffed Shells

May 3, 2024

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The luscious cheese filling and wealthy marinara and alfredo sauces hold some coming again to Olive Backyard repeatedly for his or her beloved big stuffed shells. However this easy recipe makes it simple to get pleasure from at dwelling.

homemade Olive Garden giant cheese stuffed shells in a pasta bowl.

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Big Cheese Stuffed Shells

There’s little doubt Olive Backyard is without doubt one of the go-to spots for many individuals craving a deliciously filling Italian meal. However whereas the infinite pasta, soups, salads, and breadsticks could get a number of consideration, one of many actual stars of the menu is the chain’s Big Stuffed Pasta Shells.

Whereas they might look intimidating, it’s surprisingly easy to make this delicacy proper in your personal kitchen. It’s nice for busy weeknights or whenever you desire a comforting pasta dish for dinner.

What makes the Olive Backyard Stuffed Shells so good?

Big stuffed shells take lots of the greatest elements of Italian pasta dishes and supersize them. Which means extra creamy, flavorful cheese filling, extra tender pasta shells, and extra wealthy, completely seasoned marinara sauce and creamy alfredo sauce to decorate all of it with.

It’s additionally completely meatless, making it a superb selection for vegetarians or these reducing again on their meat consumption (with out feeling such as you’re lacking out).

Why that is the very best copycat Olive Backyard Stuffed Shells recipe

Whereas there are a number of parts to creating excellent Olive Backyard big pasta shells, this recipe breaks them down into easy parts, permitting even newbie cooks to construct a masterpiece out of humble elements. As well as, the usage of premade marinara removes the effort of creating your personal sauce.

Components

Right here’s what you’ll want to provide the massive flavors and hearty sustenance of this basic dish. You will discover all of them at common grocery shops.

Common or Italian-style breadcrumbs
Butter
Jumbo shells
Full-fat ricotta cheese
Italian mix shredded cheese
Egg
Marinara sauce
Heavy whipping cream
Shredded parmesan cheese
Recent parsley

Olive Garden giant cheese stuffed shells ingredients on a tray.

Ingredient substitutions and recipe variations

For those who don’t have a few of the substances available or wish to change issues up a bit, attempt these useful substitutions:

Change out the shells for manicotti as an alternative. Filling any sort of cooked pasta is a ton of labor.
Add spinach. Thaw some frozen chopped spinach, drain it, and squeeze out the liquid. Stir in about ½ cup into the ricotta filling.
Love garlic? Add a few finely chopped garlic cloves or some garlic powder to the alfredo sauce or marinara sauce.
Make issues simpler through the use of lasagna noodles as an alternative! To make, boil the lasagna noodles in response to the package deal or go for no-boil lasagna noodles to avoid wasting a step. Assemble the dish by coating the underside of a 13 x 9 baking pan with a layer of marinara sauce to maintain the noodles from sticking. Lay down a layer of lasagna noodles, then unfold the cheese combination on prime and canopy the cheese with the remainder of the noodles. Pour the Alfredo sauce over the noodles and bake within the oven as directed.
Add just a little little bit of meat. Serve just a few meatballs or sliced Italian sausages alongside these Olive Backyard Stuffed Shells for additional protein and an entire lot of taste! You can too use a meat sauce with floor beef or Italian sausage as an alternative of marinara sauce to combine it instantly into your meal.

The best way to Make Olive Backyard Big Cheese Stuffed Shells

Don’t be delay by the variety of steps right here — the ultimate result’s greater than well worth the effort:

Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Soften the butter and pour it over the breadcrumbs in a bowl. Stir to mix.
Unfold the buttered breadcrumbs on a baking sheet and bake till they start to brown, about six minutes. Put aside to chill.

toasted buttered bread crumbs on a baking sheet.

Prepare dinner shells as directed on the package deal. Drain and put aside to chill.
In the meantime, heat the marinara sauce in a saucepan over medium-low warmth.
Whisk the egg in a small bowl. Mix ricotta cheese and Italian cheese mix with the whisked egg. Put aside.
Add the butter and cream to a small pan or skillet and warmth over medium-high. When it begins to bubble, add the parmesan and stir till the cheese has melted. Cut back the warmth to medium-low and simmer. Style and season with black pepper if desired.
Stuff 15 cooled shells with the ricotta filling.
Put together an oven-safe pie plate, baking dish, or pasta bowl by pouring a cup of marinara sauce onto the underside.

Pour alfredo sauce over the shells till partially coated.
Bake at 350°F till the shells are heated to 160°F, about 20 minutes.
Garnish with a sprinkling of toasted breadcrumbs and chopped parsley, basil, or oregano.

a bowl of homemade Olive Garden giant cheese stuffed shells.

The best way to serve Big Cheese Stuffed Shells

Stuffed shells are undoubtedly among the many most filling and substantial pasta dishes you’ll discover. They work effectively as a foremost course when serving a number of shells per individual, whereas a single shell or two could be a excellent pasta dish for a multi-course Italian feast.

What goes effectively with them

The richness of the tacky filling and tomato-heavy sauce that make up stuffed shells are ideally complemented with a contemporary companion. This will embody a home salad with a herby French dressing or veggies like asparagus, broccoli, carrots, zucchini, and extra. Or, tuck right into a carb-lover’s paradise with a serving of garlic bread or Italian breadsticks.

Don’t neglect a scrumptious beverage to spherical out your meal. Purple or white wine go effectively with pasta, although a hoppy IPA additionally works with this dish. For non-alcoholic choices, glowing water or seltzer is a superb selection.

The best way to Retailer and Reheat

Like most pasta dishes, Olive Backyard big stuffed shells are greatest loved contemporary. Nevertheless, the leftovers will hold within the fridge for a number of days when saved correctly. Enable them to succeed in room temperature, then retailer them in an hermetic container or cowl the dish with aluminum foil. Reheat them in a 350°F oven for about 20 minutes or till heat. Nevertheless, they nonetheless typically gained’t regain the identical texture as contemporary.

For longer-term, higher-quality storage, attempt freezing the unbaked, unsauced shells in a single layer on a parchment-lined tray. They’ll keep at the very best quality for as much as two months. Merely defrost within the fridge, assemble, and bake to get pleasure from a fast, scrumptious meal.

overhead view of homemade Olive Garden giant cheese stuffed shells.

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Take a look at extra of my simple Italian recipes and the very best Olive Backyard pasta recipes right here on CopyKat!