Fabulously Fall Butternut Squash Ricotta Stuffed Shells

Nothing puts me in the fall mood like these delicious stuffed shells for dinner. They aren’t your typical Italian stuffed shells. These encapsulate so many beautiful savory flavor. They can be a bit tricky to assemble at first, but I assure you, once you make these they will be added to your recipe collection, I know that’s exactly what I did anyway.

So if you like the idea of having sausage, pasta, ricotta, and butternut squash all rolled into one amazing meal, read on!

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I got this beautiful recipe from Rachel Schultz and at 3-4 servings it’s perfect for a family night dinner. It might seem like a lot to do before you assemble but I assure you the more you make this recipe the easier it gets. So let’s get started. This post also contains affiliate links. If you click on one and buy something, I get a small commission! Thank you. 🙂

Fabulously Fall Butternut Squash Ricotta Stuffed Shells, by autumnbecomes.me

1. 1 butternut squash, peeled and cubed (if you’re in a hurry, grocery stores sometimes carry butternut squash already peeled and cubed!)

2. 1 onion, sliced (you can rough chop this since it will be going into a food processor.)

3. ¾ cup milk

4. ¾ cup vegetable broth (save any extras though just in case you find your puree too thick).

5. 1 pound sausage (Italian works, and original flavor, just don’t get breakfast patties or things like that. Don’t buy the kind in a casing. Worst case scenario your butcher can point you in the right direction.)

6. 2 cups spinach

7. 3 cloves garlic

8. 1 pound jumbo shells, cooked al dente in step 7

9. 15 ounces ricotta

10. 1 egg

11. ¼ cup parmesan, shredded

12. Additional parmesan, shredded

13. Olive oil

14. Salt & pepper

Fabulously Fall Butternut Squash Ricotta Stuffed Shells, by autumnbecomes.me

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Arrange onion and butternut squash in an even layer on a lined baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt & pepper. Roast for 40 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, cook sausage over medium heat. When sausage is mostly browned, add spinach and garlic. Cook until spinach is wilted and remove from heat.

4. Place roasted butternut squash and onion in a food processor.

5. Pulse until smooth puree forms. Allow to cool. Stir in milk and vegetable broth. Pour butternut squash sauce into the base of a 9×13 baking dish.

6. In a large mixing bowl, stir together ricotta, parmesan, and egg. Add sausage and spinach into ricotta and stir until evenly distributed.

7. This is a good time to start cooking the shells. You’re going to want to cool them a little bit before handling so you don’t burn yourself. I also like to use these vinyl gloves shown below to keep my hands clean because this can get a bit messy.

8. Fill cooked pasta shells with 3-4 tablespoons of filling. I like to use a large soup spoon from my silverware and I just scoop it right in. Arrange shells in butternut squash sauce in the 9×13 baking dish.

9. Bake for 30 minutes covered with aluminum foil followed by 15 minutes uncovered. Top with additional parmesan.

Fabulously Fall Butternut Squash Ricotta Stuffed Shells, by autumnbecomes.me

And you’re done! I really hope you love these as I do. I feel like it’s just so perfect for chilly nights when you have a fire going. Put on a Halloween movie and enjoy! If you want to tell me how it went, leave a comment below! If you want to show me how it went just tag me on your Instagram or Facebook and if you want to keep up to date with my posts, please sign up HERE to be notified. Thank you so much for reading, I wish you a wonderful day. -Heather Astaneh