Last week I sent this recipe out to my newsletter subscribers and forgot to post it on here as well. This delicious “make-ahead” meal melts in your mouth! If you want to impress someone that loves Italian food…give this a try!
Stuffed Shells with Rotisserie Chicken
Ingredients
10 oz. bag spinach
1 or 2 rotisserie chickens
12 oz. jumbo shells
Cheese Filling
2 lbs. ricotta cheese, part-skim
2 cups Parmesan cheese, grated
2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
2 large eggs, beaten
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black ground pepper
Sauce
2 pints heavy cream
3/4 teaspoon chicken bouillion powder
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 cups Italian cheese, shredded
salt & pepper, to taste
1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated (for the topping)
Directions
1. Cover and boil the spinach in one inch of water until completely wilted. Drain well and set aside.
2. Remove the meat from the chicken(s) and set aside.
3. Cook the jumbo shells according to the directions. (Be sure to remove them before they split.) Drain the shells and place them on wax paper to dry.
4. In a large bowl, combine the cheese filling ingredients. Fill the shells with the cheese filling using a decorating bag or spoon. Place the stuffed shells in two 13 x 9-inch baking dishes. Add the chicken and spinach to the dish, so that it is evenly distributed around the shells. Set aside.
5. Heat the cream in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the boullion powder, garlic, Italian cheese, and salt & pepper. Stir until the cheese is melted and the sauce is heated through.
6. Pour the sauce evenly over the shells, chicken and spinach. Sprinkle the Parmesan cheese on top.
7. Bake at 350 degrees F until bubbly and the cheese is golden brown about 30 – 40 minutes.
Serves 8 – 9.
Freezing Directions
I recommend freezing this meal in disposable aluminum baking tins. Prepare this recipe through step # 6; cover and cool in the refrigerator. When completely cool, cover and wrap in plastic wrap and aluminum foil. Label the meal and include the cooking directions. Freeze up to 2 months.
To reheat, simply remove the foil and plastic wrap and place in the oven (frozen). Bake for about 1 hour at 350 degrees F until bubbly and heated through.
This recipe was part of Mommy’s Kitchen Pot Luck Sunday. Head over there for some great recipes!
Those. Look. AMAZING!
Its 9am but boy could I go for some of that, It looks so good!!! Thanks for sharing!!
This looks a bit time consuming, but well worth it in the end. A great comfort food for a cold, rainy day.
Wow, this sounds very delicious! I will definitely try to make that one. Thanks for sharing!
Verena
We tried this last week when you posted it – it was a HUGE hit! For the first batch I cut everything in half and only made one pan – just in case we didn’t like it, ya know? Everyone loved it – including my 15 and 9 year olds!
This time we added some twists – we had spinach, mushrooms, eggplant – and italian sausage.
It was good, too – however, we decided that the eggplant was not as good as we had anticipated. Oh, well! Trial and error is a good thing!
Also, there is only 4 of us, so I made (4) 8 x 8 pans and we ate one for supper that night and froze the other three. Yum!
Thanks for doing this blog. I’m getting ready to comb the blog looked for more to put in my freezer!
Hi Tiffany,
I’m so glad you liked it! I’m going to be freezing some before I go back to work (teaching) in a few weeks.
Sounds delicious and looks so easy!!! Looking forward to following your blog!
Looks delish! Can’t wait to make it and try it out!
I made this yesterday for me and my three boys. I made only half the recipe, but next time I will make two pan fulls. It was so delicious, not hard to make at all and I had no leftovers. My kids loved it.
Thank you for sharing and posting this.
Hi Cheryl,
Thanks for taking the time to comment on this recipe. Glad you enjoyed it! :)
I know I’m late to the party, and I hope you see this…
I was just wondering, when you mention number of servings, is that per tray or the whole thing?
Thanks!!
Hi Natasha,
It is 8 – 9 servings for the whole recipe. Thanks for stopping by!