If you’ve ever been to Rubirosa in New York, you know their tie-dye pizza is absolutely incredible. The “tie-dye” is swirls of vodka sauce and pesto on top of their cheese pizza and it is as good as it sounds. These stuffed shells are inspired by their pizza, stuffed with a cheesy ricotta filling, cozied into my signature vodka sauce, and dolloped with pesto to finish. It’s a decadent and supremely delicious dish, festive enough for your holiday celebrations. You are going to love this!
Key Ingredients:
-
Vodka Sauce – my vodka sauce has been a crowd favorite for years. This forms the base and flavor to the dish, so I highly recommend not skipping this homemade.
-
Pesto – this is one you can shortcut and buy good quality store bought pesto if you’d like, or make your own using my pesto recipe here. I have tested this with both, and both taste great! Since there are a few components to this, I tend to just use store-bought, just be sure to grab the ones in the fridge section vs jarred (I like the Costco, Gotham Greens, or Rana brands).
- Ricotta filling
- For years I made this with a ricotta filling, but recently made the switch to using blended cottage cheese (cottage cheese blended using an immersion blender or food processor) and you honestly can’t tell a difference. It adds some more protein in the dish and is a bit less indulgent – both great, so choose your own adventure!
- Roasted garlic or garlic confit – around the holidays, especially if I’m making my Confit Garlic Mashed Potatoes, I usually have extra roasted/confit garlic laying around. I love to mash some up and add it to the filling, but this is not necessary! If you don’t have any roasted garlic or confit garlic leftover, just leave it out.
- Mozzarella & Parmesan
- Both in the filling and over top. The mozzarella you can buy pre-shredded, just be sure to use low moisture. As for the parmesan, I highly recommend grating yourself, as it is what adds a nice crisp to the topping.
- Jumbo Shells
- This recipe uses jumbo shells for stuffing. The only thing you could likely substitute for this is manicotti tubes. You won’t need the whole box, typically just about 20 shells for a 9×13″ dish, but I like to make a little extra just in case a shell breaks or rips while cooking. In the first few minutes of cooking the pasta, be sure to stir often to make sure no shells stick to each other. You want to cook your shells just to al dente as they will continue to cook as they bake. Once al dente, drain and rinse thoroughly until cold to touch.
Tips & Tricks:
- Make Ahead Instructions
- To make this ahead, follow the steps up until baking. Cover the pasta dish with plastic wrap and keep in the fridge. When ready to bake, remove the pasta from the fridge while the oven preheats to allow it to come to room temperature. Follow with the remaining steps.
- The easiest and fastest way I have found to stuff the shells with the cheesy filling is using a ziplock or a piping bag. Add the filling to a ziplock (you can do this easily by placing the ziplock in a mason jar and holding with a rubber band). Snip off a small corner of the bottom of the ziplock and apply gentle pressure to the ziplock as you fill the shells. You can also fill the shells by just using a spoon, you’ll want about 2-3 tbsps of filling per shell.
- Spray the aluminum foil with cooking spray before adding to the pan to prevent the cheese from sticking to the foil.
Tie Dye Stuffed Shells
- Total Time: 65
- Yield: 8
Description
Creamy vodka sauce, ricotta-pesto filling, and melty cheese come together in these tie-dye stuffed shells for the ultimate cozy, crowd-pleasing pasta bake.
Ingredients
For the Tie Dye Stuffed Shells:
-
8oz jumbo shells
-
1 cup low moisture mozzarella, shredded (4oz)
-
½ cup freshly grated parmesan
-
¼ – ½ cup homemade or store bought pesto (recipe here)
For the filling:
-
1lb ricotta cheese or blended cottage cheese (about 2 cups)
-
6 cloves roasted or confit garlic, mashed (optional)*
-
1 cup shredded low moisture mozzarella cheese (4oz)
-
1 cup freshly grated parmesan
-
½ cup pesto
-
¾ tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
For the Vodka Sauce:
-
2 tbsps salted butter
-
1 tbsp olive oil
-
2 shallots, chopped finely
-
5 cloves minced garlic
-
6 oz tomato paste (¾ cup)
-
¼ cup vodka
-
1½ cups heavy cream
-
½ – 1 cup pasta water
-
¾ cup freshly grated parmesan
-
Salt and pepper to taste
-
1-2 tsps calabrian chili paste (or red pepper flakes)
Instructions
For the Tie Dye Stuffed Shells:
- If you are making your own pesto, do so first by following the recipe here.
- Fill a large pot with water and season generously with a large pinch of salt. Bring to a boil.
-
Start by making the vodka sauce. Heat up 1 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp of olive oil in a large pan on medium heat. Add in the shallots and a pinch of salt and cook until soft and translucent. Add in 1 tbsp of butter and once melted, add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.
-
Add the tomato paste and cook for 6-8 minutes on medium low heat, stirring occasionally until a deep red color.
-
While the tomato paste is cooking, add the shells to your pot of boiling water and cook until al dente. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water, drain the pasta, and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking process.
-
Once the tomato paste has deepened in color, add in your vodka and stir. Let the alcohol cook out for 2-3 minutes or until all liquid has evaporated.
-
Reduce the heat to low and add in your heavy cream, stirring until well combined. Add in ½ cup of pasta water and your parmesan cheese and stir until smooth. If you want a looser sauce you can add a bit more pasta water. Season with 1 tsp salt and ½ tsp pepper and mix in the Calabrian chili paste if desired. Taste and adjust for seasoning, then shut off the heat and set aside.
-
Make your filling by mixing together the ricotta cheese, roasted garlic (if using), mozzarella, parmesan, salt, and pepper to taste. Swirl in about ½ cup of fresh pesto and set aside (you don’t want to overmix, just nice little pockets of pesto).
-
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
-
Spread the vodka sauce in the bottom of a 9×13″ pan.
-
Add your ricotta filling to a ziplock bag in one corner, and cut ½” off the corner. Pipe about 2 tbsps of filling into each shell and add them to the pan. Continue until you have used up all the filling.
-
Gently push the shells a bit deeper into the pasta sauce, then top with mozzarella and parmesan cheese. Spray aluminum foil with cooking spray and gently wrap the pan with foil.
-
Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes covered, then uncover and bake for 10 minutes more. Broil for 1-2 minutes or until the cheese is golden and bubbly, keeping a close eye on it so it doesn’t burn.
-
Just before serving, top with dollops of fresh pesto. Serve immediately and enjoy!
Notes
*Around the holidays, I usually have leftover confit garlic from my mashed potato recipe, and love using it in here. This is completely optional!
- Prep Time: 30
- Cook Time: 35
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Pasta Bake