For Christmas one year we invited friends over. Everyone’s schedule was different and we didn’t want to put pressure on the day.

I needed to make sure that there was fresh yummy food whenever people arrived, so I decided to make half trays of stuffed shells. We could cook what we needed and the leftovers would be lovely the next day. This made almost 4 half-trays, about 60 stuffed shells.

It was enough to feed an army and was even better the next day. You could double, halve, quarter or eighth this recipe to suit your purposes. It was ridiculously easy and to make just a few and serve with a tossed salad would be a fantastic family dinner.

Stuffed Shells for a Crowd

Ingredients

4 disposable aluminum 1/2 trays
2 boxes jumbo shells
8 large cloves of garlic chopped
1/4 c. of olive oil
2 (2lb.) containers of ricotta cheese (allow them to sit out for a bit so that the cheese is softened enough to work with)
24 oz. of shredded mozzarella (the bags were on sale for 3 for $5 – so we went that route)
2 small bunches of parsley, trimmed and chopped
salt and pepper
(You could also use 2-3 eggs to help blend the cheese mixture but some of our guests can’t have eggs. I omitted them and we didn’t miss them at all!)
A double batch of quick tomato sauce – you could use your favorite jarred sauce (probably 2-3 jars), but the homemade version is so easy and much more budget friendly.

Instructions

Put up a big pot of salted water to boil, cook the shells according to package directions. Using a slotted spoon or a hand held colander, gently remove the shells from the water and put them on a flat baking sheet. Use extra care to make sure that you don’t break them. When they’ve cooled enough to touch them, drizzle olive oil over them and gently toss with your hands to keep them from sticking together. Cover them with damp paper towels until you’re ready to use them.
Meanwhile, in a large bowl combine the ricotta cheese and 1/2 the mozzarella.
In a sauté pan, heat the oil on med. heat and sauté the garlic for just a minute or so until the smell is released. Be careful not to let the garlic burn. Pour garlic oil mixture over the cheese mixture, add the parsley and mix. being sure to combine well. Salt and pepper to taste and mix.
To prepare the aluminum trays, lightly spray with Pam and then put a thin layer of tomato sauce on top of that. Using a large spoon, stuff each shell with the cheese mixture and place neatly in the tray. I found that three rows of about 8 shells worked very well.
If you’re doing this the day before, stop here. Cover with aluminum foil and refrigerate until your party.
Preheat oven to 350 and cook covered trays for 20 minutes. Remove from oven, carefully uncover and top with mozzarella cheese.
Put back in the oven and cook until the cheese is how you like it. 10-20 minutes. We like our cheese browned on top.
Remove from oven and let it sit for 10-15 minutes to allow the cheese to firm up a little bit.