Looking for a hearty meal that’s great for all ages? Try these Sausage Ricotta Stuffed Shells made with Lumanconi noodles…aka baskets of love.

Pasta is a go-to in most households…not usually in mine. While I celebrate Taco Tuesday nearly every week, Thursketti (or any Italian meal) is observed a bit less frequently. HOWEVER, after developing this recipe I do believe that’s about to change.

In fact, this Italian dish was declared second best I’ve served (my Honey Shrimp Tacos still take the cake, because honey. shrimp. tacos.). I agree, though I tend to judge meals by ease of completion over anything else in the days leading up to Snap Conference.

Sausage Ricotta Stuffed Shells

When my mind is occupied with Snap details I tend to wander the grocery store isles a bit more frantically than I do the rest of the year. Guess what that means? I end up placing things in my cart that I wouldn’t normally.

The other day I was visiting our local Kroger store (that’s Smith’s in Utah) and I found the CUTEST pasta. Naturally it made it’s way into my cart, because cute food = good food, right?! I wasn’t sure exactly what the LARGE basket shaped pasta was called or how to use it, but I figured I could stuff it with deliciousness…

I wanted to keep things simple so I purchased some sausage and ricotta cheese to stuff the shells with. I am a bit of a spice wimp so I like to purchase mild Italian sausage and then add the spice a bit at a time with some red pepper and paprika. Ricotta is a mild cheese with a slightly sweet taste though, so even if you’re heat averse like I am, you can push the spice level.

The pasta is placed in a casserole dish, topped with red sauce and then sprinkled with cheese, i.e. more yum!

One of the things that I really love about this dish is that it can be prepared early in the day and stashed in the refrigerator until you’re ready to pop it in the oven. That works great for me as I seem to always get slammed with email in the late afternoon right before dinner.

Sausage ricotta stuffed shells were a hit in my home and I think they will be in yours too! Let me know if you try them out.

P.S. I’ve since looked up the pasta (I totes know how to use Google) and learned that it’s called Lumanconi. You can call it that, or you can just call them little baskets of love.