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olive garden giant cheese stuffed shells

Olive Garden Giant Cheese Stuffed Shells Recipe

A special dish that Olive Garden patrons absolutely love. Delicious giant pasta shells stuffed with cheese and served with marinara, alfredo sauce, topped with toasted garlic breadcrumbs. A fantastic Italian-inspired dish you can make at home that your family and friends will love you for!
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Course Entree
Cuisine Italian
Servings 4 people
Calories 911 kcal
Equipment
  • 1 Oven
  • 1 broiler
  • 1 pot
  • 1 bowl
Ingredients
  
  • 16 jumbo pasta shells
  • 1 cup mozzarella cheese shredded
  • 15 oz ricotta cheese
  • 1 cup parmesan cheese shredded or grated
  • 1 tsp basil
  • 15 oz marinara sauce
  • 1 tsp oregano
  • 1 tsp minced garlic
  • 1/4 cup Italian breadcrumbs
  • 1 tbsp butter
For the Alfredo sauce:
  • 6 tbsp butter
  • 1 tsp minced garlic
  • 3/4 cup half and half milk
  • 1 cup parmesan cheese grated
  • 1/4 cup mozzarella and provolone cheese shredded
Instructions
 
  • Preheat the oven to 400°F.
  • Fill a pot with water and bring to a boil. Cook the pasta shells following the directions on the packet.
    This can be different from brand to brand but usually requires 10-12 minutes of cooking with perhaps a little added salt.
  • In a bowl, add the ricotta, mozzarella, and provolone cheeses along with parmesan, basil, oregano, and garlic. Mix everything together thoroughly.
  • Rinse the pasta shells with cool water and make sure there’s no water collecting inside them.
  • Spray a pan with nonstick spray and add 1 cup of marinara to the bottom of it.
  • Now we take the filling we mixed earlier and stuff the pasta shells with 2 tablespoons of the filling per shell. You can also use your fingers as a spoon if you feel you can gauge the amount better.
  • Place the shells on top of the marinara sauce, and cover will aluminum foil.
  • Bake for 20 minutes at 400°F.
  • While that’s cooking, we can take a skillet and melt the tablespoon of butter in it. To this we then add the breadcrumbs, keep stirring until the crumbs turn a nice toasty brown color and move them to a separate bowl.
  • In the same skillet melt 6 more tablespoons of butter and add the garlic which we will saute for 1 minute.
  • To the sauteed garlic, we now add the half and half and both the mozzarella and parmesan. Stir thoroughly until everything is mixed and the sauce is nice and smooth.
  • Remove the shells from the oven and spoon the alfredo sauce over the top and sides of them. And add a little bit more of the marinara on top.
  • Sprinkle bread crumbs and if you wish some additional parmesan cheese on the top.
  • Finally, broil on high for 2-3 mins to brown the cheese off slightly.
    And we are done!
Nutrition
Calories: 911kcalCarbohydrates: 74.3gProtein: 44.3gFat: 49.3gSaturated Fat: 29.3gCholesterol: 143mgSodium: 1409mgPotassium: 615mgFiber: 5.7gSugar: 13.9gCalcium: 896mgIron: 4mg
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