Stuffed shells with broccoli and gruyere

One of my favorite dinner dishes is lasagna. But, unfortunately, I have yet to find a lower fat recipe that was worth eating.


So, last night, I went with my second favorite dinner - stuffed shells.

Stuffed shells with broccoli and Gruyere.

I decided to try and make a version of stuffed shells that would reduce the fat content (the cheese) and would also increase the amount of vegetables.


I boiled some large shells for 6 minutes in salted water.

Unfortunately, my last piece of the 'striped hat' pasta did not survive the boiling.

For the filling I combined:


1 cup of steamed broccoli, chopped fine
2 Tbsp. of bread crumbs
1/4 cup of shredded Gruyere cheese
1/4 cup of shredded Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp. of dried basil
1/4 tsp. of dried oregano
1/4 tsp. of dried parsley
1 egg
1 pinch of salt
1 pinch of ground black pepper
1 tsp. of roasted red bell pepper, chopped fine

1 1/2 Tbsp. of the filling went into each shell.

A small amount of spaghetti sauce went into the bottom of an oven safe dish.

I placed the stuffed shells seam side down into the sauce.

More sauce went on top.

I covered the dish with tinfoil and put it into a 375 degree oven for 30 minutes.


After 30 minutes, I removed the foil and let it continue to cook for another 5 - 10 minutes.

These turned out amazing! The inside had just enough cheese to punch up the flavor and the egg and breadcrumbs added a croquette-like texture to the filling.


Anytime you are craving stuffed shells but you don't want all that cheese this is a great option.