Make-Ahead Unstuffed Shells

photo by:kraft

My family loves this recipe! I served it to guests one time and they were impressed. It's up a notch from noodles and sauce - very good.

posted by

Mangeons

on 4/19/2013

time

prep:

30 min

total:

1 hr 15 min

servings

total:

6 servings

add your photo

add to shopping list

add to recipe box

send/share

What You Need

cups medium pasta shells, uncooked

lb. extra-lean ground beef

jar (24 oz.) marinara sauce

tub (10 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Italian Herb Cooking Creme

1/3

cup chopped fresh basil

1/4

cup KRAFT Grated Parmesan Cheese

1-1/2

cups KRAFT Shredded Mozzarella Cheese with a TOUCH OF PHILADELPHIA

Make It

COOK pasta as directed on package, omitting salt. Meanwhile, brown meat in large skillet; drain. Stir in marinara sauce; simmer on medium heat 2 min. Remove from heat.

DRAIN pasta. Mix cooking creme, basil and Parmesan in large bowl; stir in pasta. Spread half the meat sauce onto bottom of 13x9-inch baking dish sprayed with cooking spray; cover with layers of pasta mixture and remaining meat sauce. Sprinkle with mozzarella; cover with foil. Refrigerate up to 24 hours.

HEAT oven to 375ºF. Bake casserole, covered, 40 to 45 min. or until heated through, uncovering after 30 min.

Kraft Kitchens Tips

Family Fun

Spend time with your family by preparing this meal together and enjoying a walk afterwards.

Special Extra

Cook 1 each small chopped onion and green pepper along with the meat.

Variation

Casserole can be baked immediately after assembling. Just reduce the baking time to 30 min., uncovering after 20 min.

Rate recipes, or edit your previous ratings and more. Sign In

matotherow

posted:4/7/2012

Very easy to make

Joj0929

posted:4/3/2012

My family and I LOVE LOVE LOVE this dish! I do a few things differently. I add salt to the boiling water for the shells. I season the beef with adobo. and I add in 1 green pepper, 1 red pepper and 1 small onion. also add seasoning to those. I didn't realize it was the cooking creme i was supposed to use. I have been using regular cream cheese! but i add a bit more parm cheese. I also have to puree veggies so my kids don't see them and add in the carrotand sweet potatoe puree into the sauce mixture. yummy and healthy!!

Ladybug3511

posted:3/10/2012

My family loves this dish and so do I! So easy to put together. I make it with Italian sausage and I use the Italian Herb flavored cooking cream. I've used the Pesto flavor as well. I love this dish!

a cook

posted:2/29/2012

Will not make again. Lacked flavor and sauce. I even used the Italian Blend cooking cream and a 1/2 cup of sauce. Nope.

Tink924

posted:2/9/2012

This was really good and my family loved it also. Will make again and again!

a cook

posted:2/4/2012

Just OK. Kind of bland.

jmcmillen83

posted:2/4/2012

This was so delicious!!

TerBall3

posted:1/30/2012

Made this last night just as the recipe called. Soooo good and easy. My kids loved it and want to know when I am making again. I recommend!

Bowstring1

posted:1/27/2012

This was very, very good! I did not have the cream cheese sauce on hand, so I substituted alfredo sauce and added some cream cheese to that, and it was awesome. I also added a little Italian sausage to my red sauce to liven that up. I enjoyed the shells in this recipe, too. A nice change from typical lasagna or penne pasta selections.

lindy3218

posted:1/26/2012

A very tasty alternative to lasagna or a pizza casserole. Since other cooks said it needed more sauce, I added 1/2C milk to pasta mixture instead of adding more marinara sauce to meat. I didn't put the mozzarella cheese on until I removed the foil or it would have melted onto the foil. Since my husband didn't enjoy the basil taste, I will use less & add oregano next time.