Pumpkin Stuffed Shells
Luxuriously creamy, rich and comforting with the most epic garlic parmesan cream sauce that you’ll want to put on everything!
Finally. It’s September. And you know what that means. You can have all pumpkin goodness without any passed judgment or shame.
I’m one of those people still eating a pumpkin donut in August. And July. And well…all year long really.
But now. Now, you can bring on the pumpkin.
I took some pumpkin puree and mixed it with ricotta and fresh sage, and then overstuffed these jumbo pasta shells. To finish it off, I loaded it with my favorite garlic parmesan cream sauce.
But I know what you’re thinking. Pumpkin in a pasta dish. It’s not the usual filling.
But believe me when I tell you. You’ll want this for the rest of the year, and for the next 365 days.
Good thing it’s freezer-friendly, right?
Pumpkin Stuffed Shells
Ingredients
- 24 jumbo pasta shells
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 cups ricotta cheese
- 1 15-ounce can pumpkin puree
- ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage leaves
- Pinch of nutmeg
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
For the garlic parmesan cream sauce
- ¼ cup unsalted butter
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups milk
- ½ cup half and half
- ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly coat a 9×13 baking dish with nonstick spray.
- In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions; drain well. Transfer to a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil; set aside and let cool.
- In a large bowl, combine ricotta, pumpkin, Parmesan, egg, sage and nutmeg; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Stuff each shell with about 2 tablespoons ricotta mixture.
- To make the garlic parmesan cream sauce, melt butter in the skillet over medium heat. Add garlic, and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes. Whisk in flour until lightly browned, about 1 minute.
- Gradually whisk in milk, and cook, whisking constantly, until incorporated, about 1-2 minutes. Stir in half and half and Parmesan until slightly thickened, about 1-2 minutes. If the mixture is too thick, add more milk as needed; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Spread 1/2 cup cream sauce in the prepared baking dish. Arrange shells in dish, topping with remaining sauce.
- Place into the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown and bubbly.
- Serve immediately.
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this dish is phenomenal!!!!! Eereyone Ihae offeredittohas been amazed that ithas that “pumpkin”ingredient. Loe Damn delicious!!!!
These look amazing I can’t wait to give these a try! I’m planning to double this filling and make this recipe as stated and also use half the filling to make pumpkin ravioli. Thinking of doing the ravioli with a brown butter and sage sauce.
I loved this recipe! I will definitely make it again! Thank you
I’ve made this a half dozen times and love it! It has a wonderful flavor and is just fun to eat.
This is my absolute FAVORITE Fall Dish! This is my third year making it for friends and family. I always get lots of compliments and I love it so much! Currently making it for a Fall themed girls get together with some of my closest gal pals. Thank you for the yummy recipe!
Excellent. Served this for an impromptu dinner party with family. Side was spinach salad and homemade croutons. No leftovers. Everyone loved it.
I made these for dinner and they were fantastic! I added 12 oz ground sausage (my husband is a big meat eater) to thr ricotta mixture and that addition filled one box of 32 shells (vs. the 20 the recipe suggests). It was just so so so good. My 2 year old gobbled it up too. I can’t wait to make this vegetarian when he’s out of town next!
The first time I made this, I thought (as a few commented) that the garlic sauce was too bland. However, I added a little bit of Italian seasoning to the sauce, and it was delicious! Start with a pinch, and add more to taste. Bon appetit!
Nice flavor and texture. I added ground sweet Italian sausage and feel it really helped add something to it – would have been pretty bland with out. I got 22 shells out of it. Will probably make again and keep experimenting – maybe add spinach next time too and something else to enhance flavors and and more spice.
MMMMmmmm! Delicious! I can imagine this with some sausauge, too!
I make one similar to this but with sausage too. Soooo good! I think I’ll make it tomorrow.
Made this last night and it was soooooo good! I added a pound of cooked/crumbled/drained sage flavored sausage, so I got about 32 shells total. Everyone loved it! Even the “I don’t like pumpkin” people.
I have made this a couple of times. It’s a great recipe. I use fresh roasted Japanese pumpkin, roasted in the oven before I purée it. I also use freshly grated nutmeg and smoked garlic.
Super tasty! I subbed cottage cheese for ricotta and added some extra nutmeg and a little bit of pumpkin pie spice for sweetness. Turned out great! Love it.
omg i know i would love this. what an awesome recipe. i actually never thought about adding pumpkin to stuffed shells.
If I wanted to freeze this as holiday prep, do I bake it first? Then freeze and just reheat the day I need it? Or skip the baking, freeze and then bake it the day of?
Yes, you can bake first, then freeze.
Fixed this tonight. It was good, but next time I will tweak, as this seemed more like a ravioli filling than a shell filling. I had fresh pumpkins that I roasted so next time I will use part puree and part roasted chunks, less ricotta and a little more parmesan. I will add prosciutto or another salty pork to the filling for contrast and body. Also, I will really, really thin the garlic cream sauce (use less flour and more milk) and add a little spice to kick it up a bit. Great concept though, thanks for sharing!
I was hopeful for this recipe but like the review before me it wasn’t that good. Not much pumpkin flavor which should have been the star of the dish. The sauce….kinda like wallpaper paste. My husband said please don’t make this recipe again. So disappointed – the picture looked great.
I’m sorry that this recipe did not turn out the way you had imagined. I only post recipes that have been successfully tested in my own kitchen, and as you can see from the comments here, many of these readers have had great outcomes in the final dish as well. However, I understand that we all have different taste preferences, and I really appreciate your honest feedback.
I made this tonight and I REALLY wanted/hoped to like it. We had a local restaurant that used to make a pumpkin ravioli dish and I was hoping this would be similar. It wasn’t. And beyond that it wasn’t really that good. I made it exactly as the recipe said, but the texture was more like eating baby food (it was basically mush, but maybe that was the fault of the pasta I used) and the only flavor that stood out was the garlic. 🙁
Can I use Butternut squash instead of pumpkin?? I have one at home that I can use
Yes, absolutely. What a great idea!
My thanks to those who commented after making the recipe, so very helpful.