Updated Oct 7 2023
These Ricotta and Spinach Stuffed Pasta Shells are soft and ‘saucy’, which makes them absolutely perfect for babies learning to enjoy more textured foods!
What’s more, they’re good enough to be enjoyed by the adults in the family too – cutting down on the amount of time YOU need to spend in preparing dinner!
We think this dish is ideal for babies from about 10 months onwards – it’s very easy to chop everything into little pieces, leaving you with a meal that’s textured, but still creamy and easy for your little one to eat.
And this dish is bursting with an ABUNDANCE of nutrients – from the range of vitamins and minerals in the spinach to the calcium in the ricotta and Parmesan cheeses.
Want to include some more whole grains in your baby’s diet?
Then prepare this yummy treat with whole-grain pasta instead of white – an easy substitution for a lot more goodness!
To Make Ricotta and Spinach Stuffed Pasta Shells You Will Need…
15 jumbo pasta shells
15 oz container ricotta cheese
2 cups (around 1lb) frozen chopped spinach, thawed
4 oz (1 cup) grated Parmesan cheese
2 tsp fennel seeds (optional)*
1 tsp dried basil
3 garlic cloves, crushed
pinch freshly ground black pepper
2 cups homemade tomato sauce**
*The fennel seeds add a unique and totally delicious twist to the dish, but they’re not essential.
When we use them, we crush them with the back of a teaspoon because they can be quite hard for young babies.
**The tomato sauce can be made very simply by sauteing chopped, fresh tomatoes with olive oil.
You can give a more robust flavour by adding your choice of herbs. For a richer flavour still, try sauteing chopped onion and garlic in the pan before adding the tomatoes.
You may also like to try this roasted tomato puree idea.
Preheat the oven to 350 deg F (175 deg C).
Cook the pasta shells according to the directions on the packaging until ‘al dente’ (still ever-so-slightly firm).
Drain the spinach, then squeeze it to remove as much of the moisture as you can. We get our older kids to do this – they think it’s great fun!
In a bowl, mix the ricotta, a handful of the Parmesan, the crushed fennel seeds (if using), the garlic, the black pepper and the basil.
Add the spinach and mix thoroughly. If you’re cooking for adults too, you may want to set some of this mixture aside and add a little salt to it – do not add salt to your baby’s portion.
Spoon the mixture into the pasta shells.
Pour a little of the tomato sauce into the bottom of an oven-proof dish and spread around.
Sit the pasta shells on top, then cover them with the rest of the tomato sauce. (Make sure you know which ones contain the salt if you added any). Top with the rest of the Parmesan cheese.
Cover and bake for 30 mins (we like to uncover the dish for the last five minutes to brown off the cheese, but leave the cover on if you want to keep everything super-soft!).
Chop and serve when sufficiently cool.
We hope your baby enjoys these Ricotta and Spinach Stuffed Pasta Shells – we have some more pasta baby food ideas here…
Ricotta and Spinach Stuffed Pasta Shells
These Ricotta and Spinach Stuffed Pasta Shells are soft, squashy, and full of flavour for baby, plus lots of calcium and nutritious spinach
Ingredients
- 15 jumbo pasta shells
- 15 oz container ricotta cheese
- 2 cups (around 1lb) frozen chopped spinach, thawed
- 4 oz (1 cup) grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 tsp fennel seeds (optional)*
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 3 garlic cloves, crushed
- pinch freshly ground black pepper
- 2 cups homemade tomato sauce**
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 deg F (175 deg C).
- Cook the pasta shells according to the directions on the packaging until ‘al dente’ (still ever-so-slightly firm).
- Drain the spinach, then squeeze it to remove as much of the moisture as you can. We get our older kids to do this – they think it’s great fun!
- In a bowl, mix the ricotta, a handful of the Parmesan, the crushed fennel seeds (if using), the garlic, the black pepper and the basil.
- Add the spinach and mix thoroughly. If you’re cooking for adults too, you may want to set some of this mixture aside and add a little salt to it – do not add salt to your baby’s portion.
- Spoon the mixture into the pasta shells.
- Pour a little of the tomato sauce into the bottom of an oven-proof dish and spread around.
- Sit the pasta shells on top, then cover them with the rest of the tomato sauce. (Make sure you know which ones contain the salt if you added any).
- Top with the rest of the Parmesan cheese.
- Cover and bake for 30 mins (we like to uncover the dish for the last five minutes to brown off the cheese, but leave the cover on if you want to keep everything super-soft!).Chop and serve when sufficiently cool.
Notes
The fennel seeds add a unique and totally delicious twist to the dish, but they're not essential.
When we use them, we crush them with the back of a teaspoon because they can be quite hard for young babies.
**The tomato sauce can be made very simply by sauteing chopped, fresh tomatoes with olive oil.
You can give a more robust flavour by adding your choice of herbs. For a richer flavour still, try sauteing chopped onion and garlic in the pan before adding the tomatoes.
You may also like to try this roasted tomato puree idea.