74 Comments

My store, which had dozens of brands and shapes of pasta, didn’t have a single box of shells! So I bought manicotti. Do I have to make any changes in the recipe? Thank you.

Expand full comment

I made my own sauce and then proceeded with the recipe. The baked stuffed shells turned out well and it was easy to make. It turned out to be a delightful dinner.

Expand full comment

I find the store-bought tomato sauces quite strong - but in an emergency if you add a can of tomatoes and then simmer, it helps!

Expand full comment

The groceries did not have jumbo shells for my holiday meal. I had a partial box with 20 pieces. Used that and made another pasta dish with cavatappi and butternut squash. Something for everyone.

Expand full comment

These shells are a family favorite that I make for holiday meals. Used to be lasagna, but that got too complicated for me. And some mascarpone to the ricotta and spinach mix for an added creaminess. Your tips on making quick sauce will be a big help to new-to-making sauce cooks. Love the history bits you write in.

Expand full comment

I like the sound of your recipe and it isn’t too intricate. I shall definitely try it, merci.

And yes, Rao’s seems very popular , but here in NJ it costs 7.99 a jar, and that’s the 24 ounce, and in Manhattan it’s even more expensive. So I’ll try your recipe-most likely work out to be less expensive, lol

Expand full comment

I'm sure your sauce is the best of the bunch.

Expand full comment

Marvelous! I craved and made stuffed shells a couple of weeks ago (first time in many years). Good ricotta is key, plus an easy sauce made with Italian San Marzano tomatoes. Your recipe is a great guide, and I’m looking forward to including lemon zest in the mix next time. Thanks for the bonus link to the NYT dialect quiz – it’s fun and eerily accurate.

Expand full comment

This recipe is now on our menu for Super Bowl Sunday. Just found some locally made whole milk ricotta - a lovely gentleman from Italy who is making ricotta, mozzarella and scamorza. How lucky for us!

Expand full comment

I have some giant shells in my pantry. I'll be making these. Also - the regional dialect quiz.... it ID'd me as from Los Angeles in a nano-second!

Expand full comment

The French are not the only people who don't want to wait in a line. When my daughter was doing a study abroad in Shanghai, we went to the World Expo being held there. It was like we were invisible. Finally, I said NO MORE!. It is interesting to see how you can stop line cutting with an umbrella blocking people trying to cut... Once it was brought to their attention, the cutters calmed down and waited.

Expand full comment

Thank you David. I rushed out and gathered all the ingredients and just made this for dinner ( in my small Parisian kitchen). It is fantastic. The lemon adds such a bright note to the filling. Merci and Bonne Soirée Sue

Expand full comment

That makes sense. I am referencing Martha Stewart wrt the foil and acidic food. In my case, I use parchment and foil but I also spray the parchment with cooking spray before covering the dish. It stops the cheese sticking pretty well but not completely. A side benefit is the yummy crunchy bits that are stuck to the parchment when you remove the parchment and foil.

Expand full comment

As someone from the US living in Prague this article makes me so happy! You have reassured me that my cravings aren't as plebeian as I feared. While there are wonderful Italian restaurants here that I love, owned by native Italians bringing their fabulous chef skills, I occasionally long for the "Americanized" Italian food of my childhood...gooey, messy eggplant parmigiana, cheesy stuffed shells and manicotti with too much sauce, and my beloved NY pizza. Thankfully, when I am in the US it's usually to NY or Chicago so Italian joints are plentiful and I can hit them up immediately. I love that you're craving childhood school lunch pasta while in Paris. A kindred soul. And this inspires me to up my game in hunting through more of the Italian markets for the elusive pasta shells I haven't yet found here. Thanks for this great piece!

Expand full comment

As usual, David, your wonderful recipe appeared at the perfect time, so thanks sooo much! Second, my family (with little kids) expects a meat dish for dinner, so I was wondering how much ground beef I could add into the tomato sauce. Would it be overkill if I kept the full amount of cheese?

Expand full comment

I've heard that, if one is cooking with an acidic ingredient like tomatoes, that it is advisable to never let aluminium foil touch the acidic ingredient because there will be a transfer of toxins from the aluminium foil. I have read that one should line the foil with parchment paper so that only the parchment paper touches the acidic ingredients. What do you think?

Expand full comment