You can also make your own mozzarella, it's slightly more difficult, but once you get the hang of it, it's fairly easy. And like making your own ricotta, you almost certainly cannot get Mozzarella half as good from a store. The thing about mozzarella is that if it is refrigerated, it loses most of what makes it special. You're left with an almost flavourless slightly rubbery cheese that provides a good texture but not much else. if you make it fresh and keep it a room temp for the hour or so it takes to prepare the other elements of a lasagna, it has a subtle sweet milky flavour that is hard to describe. I learned this because for a little while there was a cheesemaker in my city who made fresh mozzarella twice a day and supplied it to a deli near me. The stuff was expensive as hell, but worth every penny when you really wanted to go all out on a dish. The madman, unfortunately, was one of the many many people we lost to Covid 19 (thanks Trump, for all those deaths) and so one of the most wonderful things I ever ate was gone for good. So I learned how to make mozzarella myself. Food, especially food you make for people you care about, can be a concrete expression of the love and respect you feel for them. This is the motivation that drives great chefs and great home cooks to make things better, more delicious, and more often: To see the smiles and hear the little moans of pleasure as someone eats food you put your heart and soul into is why.
A pastry bag or zipper bag with the corner snipped off is the fastest and least messy way to fill the shells. This was my daughter favorite dish growing up.
Hey Bri…, cooked this recipe today including the ˋquick ricottaˋ. It was quite some work, but it was all worth it. The Family loved it! Since we don‘t eat any pork, I substituted it with beef-bacon for the filling. And instead of chopped chilis (couldn‘t get them here) I used Sambal Oelek. It was really really really tasty, so thank you for that recipe. Best wishes from Germany!
Any time I use ricotta cheese, I use Brian's recipe to make my own. Takes no time and tastes way better than any store bought. Can also use lactose free whole milk for the recipe.
@@alexburgdorf419 Same. My mother always used cottage cheese but I never knew that. The first time I had lasagna made with ricotta I was like "What the hell is that weird off taste in there??" A few weeks ago I had a zucchini that was going bad and nothing to do with it so I sliced it into strips, baked them with olive oil/salt/pepper until they were tender and flexible and then layered them in a small baking dish like a lasagna with a cottage cheese/herb/garlic mixture and just jarred spaghetti sauce. Then topped it with mozzarella and Parmesan cheese and it was way better than I could have hoped for. I've been thinking that seasoned cottage cheese can pretty much go anywhere and be amazing lol. My dad always ate it with canned peaches so I thought it was just "an old people thing" lol. Or maybe I'm just getting old.
@@gussampson5029 That first paragraph is exactly why I hate ricotta. Id actually challenge someone to make it taste good for me. But Ill be honest I only replied to say that zucchini dish sounds bomb
pro tip: use "butter muslin" instead of grocery-store cheesecloth. the mesh weave is tighter with the muslin, and you won't lose 1/3 of your cheese to being stuck between the layers.
Pretty much any cheese cloth other than the crap from the grocery store works way better, some of it is even washable/re-usable if you're super thrifty.
It has a LOT of other uses, too. Like, some people just drink it, others add it to smoothies, or you can cook or bake with it. If you're interested, just do a quick search online and be amazed!
My mom passed away years ago, I asked for this for my birthday my entire childhood and was literally just wishing I could have had it again for my 50th birthday.
My mom made these as well. Meh, not really a fan of these though. I'll be the jerk kid. Looking back, my Mom was not a great cook, lol. She was much better at baking which she did infrequently. To be fair, I have a much different palate. I like bold flavors and her food was a bit more on the traditional / bland side.
Brian, you are the man. From one chef to another, you're the only content creator that i make recipes from. The way you explain things to us all is outstanding.
fyi, if you take the curds and put them in something like a tofu press lined with cheesecloth and press them for a while, you get a block of paneer, which is delicious cubed and fried in something like palak paneer etc.
my mom's exact (and I mean exact, down to the home-made ricotta and mixing it with the mozz, prosciutto and spinach) homemade lasagna was just doing this exact stuffing but spreading it onto the lasagna sheets and then rolling them up and backing them in a pan with red sauce. But the stuffing was prosciutto, spinach and ricotta. It Is still my favorite!
I think this is an excellent compromise, the lasagna sheets that is. How many spins should the lasagna get around the stuffing, to ensure they hold their tube shape? Like...one and a half?
4:36 - Non-English speakers: "What is a 'pape'?" English speakers: "He means a paper towel, but don't learn English from this channel. No one calls that a 'pape' except Brian Lagerstrom."
@@amandaclark2340 Just take the metric measurements over volumetric. Metric (by weight) is way more accurate. Especially for stuff like salt, it can really differ per type of salt and can ruin a dish. Weight is leading. They seem listed for all measurements in the description.
@@cosmos555 A lot of ppl in America are trying to convert to the metric system. I will try. Using a scale for everything seems like more work lol but I'll give a good shot it to slowly transition. Thanks
You don’t have to convince me. My mom used to make jumbo stuffed shells while I was growing up (she also made lasagna), and I ALWAYS requested them. Never the lasagna. It was good, but it wasn’t as cozy as this! Super excited for this recipe.😊
I made this tonight, with Manicotti shells because I could not find shells. Used a gallon freezer bag to pipe it in to the manicotti. It was very tasty!! Made everything per the recipes. Everything you have demonstrated is amazing!!! Keep it up!!
Oh my, these are amazing! My daughter made them tonight...yum! She had some extra that she gently rolled in flour, rolled in egg, and rolled in seasoned bread crumbs, then fried. Awesome! Light and crispy. I used the sauce from the baked ones as a dipping sauce.
it helps a LOT when Brian's recipes produce some of the best "home made" stuff out there... My bread and pizza game has gotten MUCH better since subbing this channel
Hi Brian and Lorn, Just wanted to say, your videos motivate me to try your recipes. I think that is the strongest message you give. The way you show the steps of the recipe makes it approachable. And you're fun to watch and Lorn too!
Excellent as usual. I would not use prosciutto tough. When prosciutto crudo is cooked, it loses all its sweetness and flavor. Do you have Speck in the US? It’s not as soft as what you're looking for, but it tastes much better when cooked.
Hey Bri! Looking forward to making this tonight! I did notice the recipe in the description calls for a 400g can of crushed tomatoes, but the 28oz can you used in the video is the ~800g version. Just a heads up!
Made this over the weekend (ricotta included) and I have to say it’s hands down the best stuffed shells I’ve ever had. For those concerned about making the ricotta, all I have to say is, do it. It’s very easy, and so much better than any store bought I’ve ever had.
Hey Brian! Tested it today, substituted the shells with Cannelloni. The ricotta is next level. Also, approved by the family,they loved it. Next step: serve it to the Italian side of the family. Thanks!
Amazing, thanks Bri! I made this Friday night for myself....made a mistake or two and it was still amazing. I'll be making it again Sunday to share with the family. Thanks for sharing.
I've always strongly disliked ricotta cheese and avoid it when cooking, for exactly the reasons you listed when describing store bought ricotta. Now I'm going to have to give this a try, and if it works, I'll have to go back through every ricotta-including recipe I turned my nose up in response to. So, thanks for that. Seriously, good video.
Your ricotta recipe changed me forever! So easy and so much more delicious. I saw it first in your 3 cheese ravioli vid and it's been bookmarked ever since. 😊
It's really great to see cookware with some mileage on it. A broken-in Dutch oven gives the video more character than some newly-polished stainless pan.
Hey Bri! I made too much of the shell filling and I'm hoping it can keep in the fridge for a day or two to make more, is that safe to do? This came out great, and I had no idea making cheese could be this easy. One of my favorite new dishes, it's going in the rotation. Appreciated the tip on adding more vinegar and getting it back up to temp if things didn't break properly. It happened to me
I made this tonight. The ricotta is unbelievably good. Absolutely no comparison to store bought. It's so easy to make that I will never buy ricotta again. I'm going to make a Lemon Ricotta cake - I already know that it will be delicious using home-made ricotta. Thank you!
Stuffed shells are one of my mom's favorites; can't wait to make this for her! Future content suggestion: I'd love a Sunday roast or fancy prime rib video with Yorkshire pudding. Maybe with Christmas/holiday vibes?
These shells will be perfect for my holiday dinner this year along with the roast beef recipe from Sip My Feast. I WILL, however, swap out ricotta for cottage cheese which is a healthier alternative to ricotta.
Made this yesterday. I missed a couple ingredients like the egg and cream in the filling, but OMG this was insanely good. My wife, not a huge cheese lover, but i gave her a taste of the filling and we knew right then this was going to be EPIC. This is a must make recipe, just needs to be on the website.
You can either place the sauced up tray in the freezer if you have space, or you can freeze the components individually. Just a lot of work to do everything on one day
Was in the mood for pizza but changed out for a calzone to try your recipe. Adding that to my standard topping offerings. Extremely creamy, easy to make, probably cheaper than store bought.
Made this a couple nights ago. The cheese really was not hard at all, worth it, and just really nice new experience on its own. The rest of the recipe is honestly pretty fast, but made a lot more shells than we anticipated. Filled the rest of the shells, and made some extra sauce, and filled a disposable foil pan to pack in the freezer for a an easy, but killer weeknight meal. Im sure the texture of the ricotta will change some, but oh well. Tips I thought were worth it: Def use a disposable pastry bag to fill the shells. I also used an induction burner that I thought helped hold the milk in the sweet spot temp more easily.
Another home run by Brian. So delicious. Bonus: it turns out that making your own ricotta is fun and easy. It yields a creamy, delectable base for the stuffing. Keep em coming, Brian.
I love this ricotta. I've been using your recipe for ricotta for lasagna and it's amazing! I can only imagine how good this version would be (I have no clue where to get prosciutto where I live).
I made this today. I can’t believe how easy the ricotta was and it tasted AMAZING on its on. Ended up with about 6 stuffed shells that didn’t fit in the pot and several extra unstuffed shells. Overall the taste was amazing. Thank you for another great recipe! I am keeping the extra shells to make a smaller portion tomorrow. The prosciutto I used cost about $18 (boars head brand) for 6oz.
dont see why you couldnt use either a good thin sliced bacon or even a GOOD black forest style ham to save a few bucks, (for an weeknight version) and then splurge on the actual prosciutto when its a special occasion. If you have an ALDI nearby, their prosciutto is also SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper than the deli counter stuff.... (about $3.50 for 3oz. you would need 2 packs for this dish)
For someone who does not eat pork, what meat would you recommend? Also, can you use white wine vinegar instead of white distilled? White distilled vinegar for eating isn’t really a thing where I live.
Distilled vinegar is about 5% acetic acid, so you woudl want to use a an amount of white wine vinegar to get about the same amount of actual acetic acid. Of course you will get the flavor, but that might be a plus. This is great without any meat. I personally like to make it that way, and maybe serve meatballs on he side.
I have a recipe like this that adds spinach and a jar of artichoke hearts chopped up into the filling mixture for like a spinach artichoke vibe, SO GOOD.
for anyone interested... one thing that he forgot, or didnt think about, is when he was boiling the shells.. if you really want to bring it all together and hit a home run, when you boil the water, add the salt to the water, but also add in some basil, oregano, rosemary, or ( to make it easier ) a couple pinches of your favorite italian seasoning blend. add this right off the bat so when it comes to a boil, you want it to be a light tea color. when the shells bring in the water, they will also absorb all that italian flavor. that means there isn't bland spots in your finished dish. most pasta is bland and almost flavorless, this works for just about any kind of pasta, and you can use whatever seasonings would pair with whatever dish you are making.
Brian, have you tried a double boiler method for bringing the milk up to temp? It sticks to the milk pot a little bit, sure, but doesn't ever burn - no stirring required. I use a big graniteware stockpot for the water, and float a tall sided pasta pot filled with a gallon of milk to make ricotta by the quart. Always your recipe. Thanks, Homie!
This looks incredible! I've made ricotta per your instructions in a previous video and it blew away store bought. SUGGESTION for a future video: classic breaded and fried eggplant parm! So many tips out there for handling the eggplant, I'd love to see your take on the best method. Keep up the awesome work!
You gotta try this with Catupiry instead of ricotta. It might be difficult to find it but for this specific recipe it really brings it up to a new level.
Question! I noticed your oven showed 400° but you said 425° Just curious 😊 I love your show!! My hubs & I have tried many of your recipes. All fantastic. Thank you!
1/2 gal of milk yielded about 20oz of ricotta. To get 2# or 32oz it takes 12 cups of the milk cream mixture. I add grated parm. & mozzarella, egg and spices for the shell filling. This is for a firmer dryer product.
I am making this at the moment, ricotta came out amazing! I would love a video on making mozzarella soon. I love Brian, at my house it is Brian says this and Brian says that. I am going to get the recommended knife next. Keep it up I am loving and making tons of your recipes.
Hi @Brian Lagerstrom, i went ahead and tried making the ricotta from this video. Worked out a treat and was easy to make. Will definately be making it again. One thing i would do is up the salt content a fair bit (maybe 2 or 3x) as i don't think the default amount suggested is enough, for me at least. cheers.
Hey Bri, I tried this recipe today. I didn't make the ricotta, just went with store bought. Still, the whole thing was great. I did a vegetarian version, that is also great. This was supposed to be for a dinner party, but everyone canceled. Now we have a tonne left over!😂
My mom would get the frozen shells and cheese from the store when I was a kid. One of my favorite dinners. And I have no doubt that the homemade version is leagues better.
>lasagna is too much work
>let me make my own cheese
I wonder how lasagna would taste with custom cheese DLC.
@@galenargyros4082 good but you have to pay $28.99 for it
I mean he makes the same Ricotta for his Lasagna
@@galenargyros4082 only worth the price if you get the ricotta battle pass
You can also make your own mozzarella, it's slightly more difficult, but once you get the hang of it, it's fairly easy. And like making your own ricotta, you almost certainly cannot get Mozzarella half as good from a store. The thing about mozzarella is that if it is refrigerated, it loses most of what makes it special. You're left with an almost flavourless slightly rubbery cheese that provides a good texture but not much else. if you make it fresh and keep it a room temp for the hour or so it takes to prepare the other elements of a lasagna, it has a subtle sweet milky flavour that is hard to describe.
I learned this because for a little while there was a cheesemaker in my city who made fresh mozzarella twice a day and supplied it to a deli near me. The stuff was expensive as hell, but worth every penny when you really wanted to go all out on a dish. The madman, unfortunately, was one of the many many people we lost to Covid 19 (thanks Trump, for all those deaths) and so one of the most wonderful things I ever ate was gone for good. So I learned how to make mozzarella myself.
Food, especially food you make for people you care about, can be a concrete expression of the love and respect you feel for them. This is the motivation that drives great chefs and great home cooks to make things better, more delicious, and more often: To see the smiles and hear the little moans of pleasure as someone eats food you put your heart and soul into is why.
A pastry bag or zipper bag with the corner snipped off is the fastest and least messy way to fill the shells. This was my daughter favorite dish growing up.
came here to comment just that! way easier and fewer broken shells
So true on the pastry bag, but only if they are disposable. Cleaning the cloth ones after the cheese filling is no fun at all!
^Awesome tip!
Lekue makes a reusable silicone pastry bag that is easy to use and clean. Costs about 16$.
your right, that works great for this, also works really well when doing stuffed manicotti ..
Hey Bri…, cooked this recipe today including the ˋquick ricottaˋ. It was quite some work, but it was all worth it. The Family loved it! Since we don‘t eat any pork, I substituted it with beef-bacon for the filling. And instead of chopped chilis (couldn‘t get them here) I used Sambal Oelek. It was really really really tasty, so thank you for that recipe.
Best wishes from Germany!
How can a fiddly princess of stuffing shells be easier than making a pan of lasagna?
Any time I use ricotta cheese, I use Brian's recipe to make my own. Takes no time and tastes way better than any store bought. Can also use lactose free whole milk for the recipe.
This is great to know!! Thank you!! My mum drinks lactose free milk and I wondered if I could make this for her.
store bought ricotta ruined me on all ricotta. its very tragic
That’s because this isn’t ricotta. Ricotta is made from whey. This is farmers cheese.
@@alexburgdorf419 Same. My mother always used cottage cheese but I never knew that. The first time I had lasagna made with ricotta I was like "What the hell is that weird off taste in there??"
A few weeks ago I had a zucchini that was going bad and nothing to do with it so I sliced it into strips, baked them with olive oil/salt/pepper until they were tender and flexible and then layered them in a small baking dish like a lasagna with a cottage cheese/herb/garlic mixture and just jarred spaghetti sauce. Then topped it with mozzarella and Parmesan cheese and it was way better than I could have hoped for. I've been thinking that seasoned cottage cheese can pretty much go anywhere and be amazing lol. My dad always ate it with canned peaches so I thought it was just "an old people thing" lol. Or maybe I'm just getting old.
@@gussampson5029 That first paragraph is exactly why I hate ricotta. Id actually challenge someone to make it taste good for me.
But Ill be honest I only replied to say that zucchini dish sounds bomb
Can’t wait to try this! 😋 btw i miss your “let’s eat this thing”/dance outro, I vote you bring it back
pro tip: use "butter muslin" instead of grocery-store cheesecloth. the mesh weave is tighter with the muslin, and you won't lose 1/3 of your cheese to being stuck between the layers.
I've had decently good results with old coarse tshirts that were cut up into large rags too, just make sure they're clean and lint free
Pretty much any cheese cloth other than the crap from the grocery store works way better, some of it is even washable/re-usable if you're super thrifty.
There are different grades of cheese cloth the finer ones will be 90 or 100. This will help with all you filtering needs.
Thank you! I’ve made fresh ricotta several times, but will try with the “butter muslin” next time.
Or a clean cotton cloth....I started cheese making with a cut down old pillow case.
Tip: discarded whey is REALLY helpful in the garden. Dump it in your garden bed!
I wish I'd read this before throwing it away!
It has a LOT of other uses, too. Like, some people just drink it, others add it to smoothies, or you can cook or bake with it. If you're interested, just do a quick search online and be amazed!
@@mbs7078 next time my friend!
Chickens love it too
@@mbs7078
Oh man , that wasn’t funny , but it was 😂😂😂😂
My mom passed away years ago, I asked for this for my birthday my entire childhood and was literally just wishing I could have had it again for my 50th birthday.
Me too! My mom passed three years ago. She made the best stuffed shells.
I loved when my mom used to make this too.
I used to request this for my birthday too!
My mom made these as well. Meh, not really a fan of these though.
I'll be the jerk kid. Looking back, my Mom was not a great cook, lol. She was much better at baking which she did infrequently.
To be fair, I have a much different palate. I like bold flavors and her food was a bit more on the traditional / bland side.
@@HKim0072 🤷♂️ You don't actually need to respond to everything
I've cooked many many recipes from this channel. I have to say this one is one of my favorites. Awesome recipe! Thanks Brian!
Brian, you are the man. From one chef to another, you're the only content creator that i make recipes from. The way you explain things to us all is outstanding.
I made this last weekend subbing shrimp for the Italian ham. Brilliant! Thanks Brian!
fyi, if you take the curds and put them in something like a tofu press lined with cheesecloth and press them for a while, you get a block of paneer, which is delicious cubed and fried in something like palak paneer etc.
my mom's exact (and I mean exact, down to the home-made ricotta and mixing it with the mozz, prosciutto and spinach) homemade lasagna was just doing this exact stuffing but spreading it onto the lasagna sheets and then rolling them up and backing them in a pan with red sauce. But the stuffing was prosciutto, spinach and ricotta. It Is still my favorite!
I think this is an excellent compromise, the lasagna sheets that is. How many spins should the lasagna get around the stuffing, to ensure they hold their tube shape? Like...one and a half?
4:36 - Non-English speakers: "What is a 'pape'?"
English speakers: "He means a paper towel, but don't learn English from this channel. No one calls that a 'pape' except Brian Lagerstrom."
And then “crushed toms and tom paste”
Can’t stand moronic terminology
What is T in measurement is that a teaspoon or a tablespoon? I'm making it now. 10 tablespoons?..I hope
@@amandaclark2340 Just take the metric measurements over volumetric. Metric (by weight) is way more accurate. Especially for stuff like salt, it can really differ per type of salt and can ruin a dish. Weight is leading. They seem listed for all measurements in the description.
@@cosmos555 A lot of ppl in America are trying to convert to the metric system. I will try. Using a scale for everything seems like more work lol but I'll give a good shot it to slowly transition. Thanks
@@amandaclark2340 T=tablespoon, t=teaspoon
You don’t have to convince me. My mom used to make jumbo stuffed shells while I was growing up (she also made lasagna), and I ALWAYS requested them. Never the lasagna. It was good, but it wasn’t as cozy as this!
Super excited for this recipe.😊
I made this tonight, with Manicotti shells because I could not find shells. Used a gallon freezer bag to pipe it in to the manicotti.
It was very tasty!! Made everything per the recipes. Everything you have demonstrated is amazing!!!
Keep it up!!
Oh my, these are amazing! My daughter made them tonight...yum! She had some extra that she gently rolled in flour, rolled in egg, and rolled in seasoned bread crumbs, then fried. Awesome! Light and crispy. I used the sauce from the baked ones as a dipping sauce.
First breadmaking...then pizza making...Now I'm about to learn how to make cheese too...Your channel is too awesome....
We ALL feel this way 😂
it helps a LOT when Brian's recipes produce some of the best "home made" stuff out there... My bread and pizza game has gotten MUCH better since subbing this channel
Hi Brian and Lorn, Just wanted to say, your videos motivate me to try your recipes. I think that is the strongest message you give. The way you show the steps of the recipe makes it approachable. And you're fun to watch and Lorn too!
Excellent as usual. I would not use prosciutto tough. When prosciutto crudo is cooked, it loses all its sweetness and flavor. Do you have Speck in the US? It’s not as soft as what you're looking for, but it tastes much better when cooked.
I like your combination of serious business when it comes to measurements, temps, etc. while still having fun with the presentation
Hey Bri! Looking forward to making this tonight! I did notice the recipe in the description calls for a 400g can of crushed tomatoes, but the 28oz can you used in the video is the ~800g version. Just a heads up!
No wonder my sauce looked so much different!!!
Every recipe of his I’ve tried has had major amount errors or skipped steps. I’ve stopped trying to make them.
Made this over the weekend (ricotta included) and I have to say it’s hands down the best stuffed shells I’ve ever had. For those concerned about making the ricotta, all I have to say is, do it. It’s very easy, and so much better than any store bought I’ve ever had.
i grew up eating this as a kid. Always around christmas time. Is one of my favorite dishes to this day
Hey Brian! Tested it today, substituted the shells with Cannelloni. The ricotta is next level. Also, approved by the family,they loved it. Next step: serve it to the Italian side of the family. Thanks!
Amazing, thanks Bri! I made this Friday night for myself....made a mistake or two and it was still amazing. I'll be making it again Sunday to share with the family. Thanks for sharing.
I've always strongly disliked ricotta cheese and avoid it when cooking, for exactly the reasons you listed when describing store bought ricotta. Now I'm going to have to give this a try, and if it works, I'll have to go back through every ricotta-including recipe I turned my nose up in response to. So, thanks for that.
Seriously, good video.
You can also grab store bought cottage cheese instead if you don't have time. Perfect replacement for ricotta in literally everything.
I also dislike store bought ricotta cheese but homemade is delicious. Hope you like it
So how'd it go?
Made it for dinner tonight but had to use Manicotti tubes because the store didn’t have large shells. Turned out awesome.
Omg… This. Was. Delicious. I will definitely make this again and again. And again. Thank you Brian!
Your ricotta recipe changed me forever! So easy and so much more delicious. I saw it first in your 3 cheese ravioli vid and it's been bookmarked ever since. 😊
ugh i love stuffed shells, they’re so easy to make and taste so good every time
Just tried this tonight and it was quite tasty. I'll definitely be making it again sometime. Thanks for sharing!
thanks a lot brian. ive had to make this 2x in three weeks because my wife loved it so much.
Brian's blue pot is the star of every video, it has some mileage on it.
It's iconic at this point
Not surprising! I have the exact same pot and it's a workhorse in my kitchen too. ❤
@@midcatwmnIs it a Made In, or a different brand?
It's really great to see cookware with some mileage on it. A broken-in Dutch oven gives the video more character than some newly-polished stainless pan.
I remember when he introduced it in a chili video!
I made this for my picky Italian family, it turned out awesome.
Hey Bri! I made too much of the shell filling and I'm hoping it can keep in the fridge for a day or two to make more, is that safe to do?
This came out great, and I had no idea making cheese could be this easy. One of my favorite new dishes, it's going in the rotation. Appreciated the tip on adding more vinegar and getting it back up to temp if things didn't break properly. It happened to me
I made this tonight and it DELICIOUS🎉 Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Thanks Brian, Adding this to the recipe rotation. Also, received my Lagerstrom Chef's Knife. LOVE IT!
I made this tonight. The ricotta is unbelievably good. Absolutely no comparison to store bought. It's so easy to make that I will never buy ricotta again. I'm going to make a Lemon Ricotta cake - I already know that it will be delicious using home-made ricotta. Thank you!
This looks amazing and I'm going to try it! Never made Riccota before..
You have the best recipes. I hope you’re having amazing success sharing with all of us. 🌺🌺🌺
Thank you for the recipe. I have this one bookmarked to make this winter. You are the man.
I made his lasagna last year for the holidays, the ricotta got huge props. Stuffed shells are going on the list this year!
These are one of my very favourites. And, I know yours will put all the others I've tried to shame. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!!!😘
Stuffed shells are one of my mom's favorites; can't wait to make this for her! Future content suggestion: I'd love a Sunday roast or fancy prime rib video with Yorkshire pudding. Maybe with Christmas/holiday vibes?
Please come out with a cookbook! I would buy in an instant.
Wow so great recipe 👍❤️ look so delicious 😋 thank you so much for sharing my dear friend 🥰🥰
This was so delicious!!! Highly recommend
Thanks. I can’t wait to make this
These shells will be perfect for my holiday dinner this year along with the roast beef recipe from Sip My Feast. I WILL, however, swap out ricotta for cottage cheese which is a healthier alternative to ricotta.
Brian literally made cottage cheese ricotta is made from cooking the whey he discarded by adding a vegetable rennet and a cheese bacteria
My mom always used cottage cheese in her lasagna when we were kids.
@@CantankerousDave How coincidental! I just made my batch of lasagna with cottage cheese last night.
He made and used cottage cheese in this video.
Omg. I will be making your recipe. This looks and must taste amazing
Made this yesterday. I missed a couple ingredients like the egg and cream in the filling, but OMG this was insanely good. My wife, not a huge cheese lover, but i gave her a taste of the filling and we knew right then this was going to be EPIC.
This is a must make recipe, just needs to be on the website.
Just beautiful. Thank you.
Super easy to freeze too
Any special process for freezing them, or is it just the standard flash freeze individually then plop them into a bag for the final freeze?
You can either place the sauced up tray in the freezer if you have space, or you can freeze the components individually. Just a lot of work to do everything on one day
Beautiful! Great work. Thanks.
This got me excited about your channel again!!!
Was in the mood for pizza but changed out for a calzone to try your recipe. Adding that to my standard topping offerings. Extremely creamy, easy to make, probably cheaper than store bought.
My wife and I made this tonight. No lie, the ricotta is genuinely the best I've ever had. My whole family absolutely loved this dish!
Made this a couple nights ago. The cheese really was not hard at all, worth it, and just really nice new experience on its own. The rest of the recipe is honestly pretty fast, but made a lot more shells than we anticipated. Filled the rest of the shells, and made some extra sauce, and filled a disposable foil pan to pack in the freezer for a an easy, but killer weeknight meal. Im sure the texture of the ricotta will change some, but oh well.
Tips I thought were worth it: Def use a disposable pastry bag to fill the shells. I also used an induction burner that I thought helped hold the milk in the sweet spot temp more easily.
Unusual flavor combination, but so tasty!
Another home run by Brian. So delicious.
Bonus: it turns out that making your own ricotta is fun and easy. It yields a creamy, delectable base for the stuffing.
Keep em coming, Brian.
Great dish Bri - thanks for this video. For those who don't like spinach, what else would you recommend?
I love this ricotta. I've been using your recipe for ricotta for lasagna and it's amazing! I can only imagine how good this version would be (I have no clue where to get prosciutto where I live).
It’s dope without, also sub in really fine dice mushrooms
This is fantastic! I will never buy ricotta from the grocery store again.
Gave it a go and nailed it. I couldn’t find Jumbo Shells so I used cannelloni shells. Absolutely amazing. I will never buy ricotta again.
Can't help but notice the irony of making your own ricotta but topping it with pre-grated parm, either way this was a banger
Store-bought ricotta is so awful, tho. Huge bang for the effort on that specific front!
Hopefully he got it from a local Italian shop where they grate it fresh for you and put it in containers, but… perhaps not.😕
Grind a chunk in the 4 cup food processor, I sure hope he wasn’t using store ground.
Doubt it was preground. Likely grated it himself.
Why do you assume it’s pre grated?
Looks So Good !😂, I must try this, perfect for my weekend meal 😂, Thankyou for your recipe and video 😂😂😂❤❤❤
You should make a video on how to clean dutch ovens or are the ones you use always new? I will try this reciope soon. 🤤
Glad you demonstrated how to make ricotta
He didn't. It's farmer's cheese. Ricotta "re-cooked" in itallian is byproduct. It's made by cooking left over whey a second time.
Excelente plato, Brian. 🙌🏻
I made this today. I can’t believe how easy the ricotta was and it tasted AMAZING on its on. Ended up with about 6 stuffed shells that didn’t fit in the pot and several extra unstuffed shells. Overall the taste was amazing. Thank you for another great recipe! I am keeping the extra shells to make a smaller portion tomorrow. The prosciutto I used cost about $18 (boars head brand) for 6oz.
dont see why you couldnt use either a good thin sliced bacon or even a GOOD black forest style ham to save a few bucks, (for an weeknight version) and then splurge on the actual prosciutto when its a special occasion. If you have an ALDI nearby, their prosciutto is also SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper than the deli counter stuff.... (about $3.50 for 3oz. you would need 2 packs for this dish)
Why risk your health with anything from boars head?
Read about Boar's Head in the news lately?
For someone who does not eat pork, what meat would you recommend? Also, can you use white wine vinegar instead of white distilled? White distilled vinegar for eating isn’t really a thing where I live.
Distilled vinegar is about 5% acetic acid, so you woudl want to use a an amount of white wine vinegar to get about the same amount of actual acetic acid. Of course you will get the flavor, but that might be a plus.
This is great without any meat. I personally like to make it that way, and maybe serve meatballs on he side.
brian replied to a comment of mine suggesting diced mushrooms instead of meat! :)
I was wondering if this could be done with cannelloni it looks really delicious
Def
I'm really feeling this ricotta for the stuffed peppers I was planning to make this weekend.
hahaha - cute shout out to James Hoffman at 5:51 LOL
Looks sooo good! If I make this and I know it won’t come out as good as Brian’s dish!
I have a recipe like this that adds spinach and a jar of artichoke hearts chopped up into the filling mixture for like a spinach artichoke vibe, SO GOOD.
Omg. Yes.😋
That sounds amazing! As a vegetarian, I was going to skip the prosciutto, but subbing in artichokes sounds like a great idea.
@@jlpeters8576 Definitely give it a try!
Man great content as always, absolutely love your stuff. Been here since the pizza dough days, made some amazing pizza with your recipes.
I've been wanting to make ricotta for a long time and this is the excuse to do it, your recipe sounds delicious!
for anyone interested... one thing that he forgot, or didnt think about, is when he was boiling the shells.. if you really want to bring it all together and hit a home run, when you boil the water, add the salt to the water, but also add in some basil, oregano, rosemary, or ( to make it easier ) a couple pinches of your favorite italian seasoning blend. add this right off the bat so when it comes to a boil, you want it to be a light tea color. when the shells bring in the water, they will also absorb all that italian flavor. that means there isn't bland spots in your finished dish. most pasta is bland and almost flavorless, this works for just about any kind of pasta, and you can use whatever seasonings would pair with whatever dish you are making.
I made your French baguettes 🥖, and they came out amazing. I’m definitely going make this too!
Brian, have you tried a double boiler method for bringing the milk up to temp? It sticks to the milk pot a little bit, sure, but doesn't ever burn - no stirring required. I use a big graniteware stockpot for the water, and float a tall sided pasta pot filled with a gallon of milk to make ricotta by the quart. Always your recipe. Thanks, Homie!
Effective method. Uses extra bowl and is a little cumbersome for a half gallon of liquid. So I opt for simpler but more laborious move
I love stuffed shells!! So easy and so good!
This looks incredible! I've made ricotta per your instructions in a previous video and it blew away store bought. SUGGESTION for a future video: classic breaded and fried eggplant parm! So many tips out there for handling the eggplant, I'd love to see your take on the best method. Keep up the awesome work!
My wife and I made this last night. Absolutely amazing dish. I will never buy store bought ricotta again. Thank you.
You gotta try this with Catupiry instead of ricotta. It might be difficult to find it but for this specific recipe it really brings it up to a new level.
I absolutely love stuffed shells. This recipe looks so tasty🤤
I was fine and now I'm starving. Thanks Brian!
Question! I noticed your oven showed 400° but you said 425°
Just curious 😊
I love your show!! My hubs & I have tried many of your recipes. All fantastic.
Thank you!
Made this the other day, 10/10! 🤩
1/2 gal of milk yielded about 20oz of ricotta. To get 2# or 32oz it takes 12 cups of the milk cream mixture. I add grated parm. & mozzarella, egg and spices for the shell filling. This is for a firmer dryer product.
I am making this at the moment, ricotta came out amazing! I would love a video on making mozzarella soon. I love Brian, at my house it is Brian says this and Brian says that. I am going to get the recommended knife next. Keep it up I am loving and making tons of your recipes.
Hi @Brian Lagerstrom, i went ahead and tried making the ricotta from this video. Worked out a treat and was easy to make.
Will definately be making it again. One thing i would do is up the salt content a fair bit (maybe 2 or 3x) as i don't think the default amount suggested is enough, for me at least.
cheers.
I always enjoyed Stuffed Shells , it was a party favorite
Hey Bri,
I tried this recipe today. I didn't make the ricotta, just went with store bought. Still, the whole thing was great. I did a vegetarian version, that is also great.
This was supposed to be for a dinner party, but everyone canceled. Now we have a tonne left over!😂
Great recipe! 🌸
Loving this content
Watching this while eating a nice big bowl of spaghetti, next best thing lol. Looks amazing, will have to try.
My mom would get the frozen shells and cheese from the store when I was a kid. One of my favorite dinners. And I have no doubt that the homemade version is leagues better.
Calabrian Chilis are awesome. They don't often get the love they deserve.