Macaroni & Cheese Stuffed Shells Recipe
macaroni & cheese stuffed shells
Now this is some out of the box thinking. Lisa has taken two of our favorite comfort foods - macaroni and cheese, stuffed shells - and merged them into one. Jumbo shells are stuffed with her homemade, cheesy mac and cheese and then topped with a buttery Ritz Cracker crumble. Yes, you get a perfect mac and cheese recipe AND an easy stuffed shell recipe all in one - talk about doubling down on comfort food.
macaroni & cheese stuffed shells
serves 8-10
ingredients
- 2 cups tomato sauce
- 24 jumbo macaroni shells
- 8 oz macaroni noodles
- 3 tbsp butter
- 3 tbsp flour
- 3 cups whole milk
- 3 cups sharp cheddar, shredded
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 15 Ritz Crackers, crushed
- 1 tbsp butter, melted
directions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF. Coat a 13x9-inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Spread tomato sauce evenly over the bottom set aside.
- In a large pot of lightly salted boiling water, cook the jumbo macaroni shells according to package directions. Drain and rinse under cold water set aside. In the same pot cook macaroni noodles in lightly salted boiling water until tender drain, rinse and set aside.
- While the pasta is cooking, in a separate pot melt the butter over medium heat. Whisk in the flour, stirring continuously for 2 minutes, making sure it is free of lumps. Add milk slowly, continuing to whisk. Increase heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook mixture for 10 minutes, whisking frequently. Remove from heat and stir in cheddar cheese and salt. Fold the smaller cooked macaroni noodles into the cheese mixture. Spoon about 2 tbsp of macaroni and cheese mixture into cooked jumbo shells and place stuffed shells over tomato sauce in the prepared baking dish.
- For the topping, in a small bowl mix together crushed Ritz crackers and the melted butter until all the crumbs are moistened sprinkle evenly over stuffed shells. Bake covered for 30 minutes.
“Bless this highly nutritious microwavable macaroni and cheese dinner and the people who sold it on sale. Amen.”
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