Our Unstuffed Shells Casserole is everything a pasta casserole should be. Hearty, cheesy, full of saucy, and easy to make. If you are a looking for a quick and easy casserole for those busy weeknight dinners, this is the recipe to bookmark. I think once you make these delicious unstuffed shells for your family, they will be begging you to make it again!
Lightly spray the 9 x 13 casserole dish you are wanting to use with your favorite non-cooking spray.
Start preparing the meat that you will be using in the dish.
Boil the water and cook the pasta until it’s al dente. Remember to add salt to your water before you start to boil it. Refer to the time directions on the package of pasta for a general guide for your pasta. If it says it will be done between 8 - 10 minutes, pull at the pasta at 6 minutes since you will be baking it.
Dice the onion and mince the garlic.
In a small pan, add a teaspoon of olive oil and once it's heated, sauté the onion and garlic until it’s translucent.
Once the hamburger or other protein is ready, add the onion, garlic, and spaghetti sauce into the pan and heat thoroughly. Now when it comes to the sauce. My husband likes a lot of sauce so I used almost two full jars. You may only end up using one. This will totally be a case by case basis.
Drain the pasta but do NOT rinse the pasta.
In a large bowl, add 1/2 cup of the mozzarella cheese, the seasonings, egg, Parmesan, ricotta, and cream cheese if desired. Then mix the pasta and the cheese sauce together.
In the casserole dish, layer 1/2 of the meat sauce, the add the cheesy pasta, then the rest of the meat sauce then cheese.
Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes, remove the foil, then turn on your boiler on low and boil the cheese just until it browns. Then remove from the oven.