Chicken Pesto Stuffed Shells
I also have gotten A LOT of questions over the last year about flash freezing. This is a pasta recipe that is easy to flash freeze and keep on hand for when you want a quick lunch or an easy dinner. So I have created another video for you to see how to flash freeze these shells for a rainy day. Enjoy!Next in line after my obsession with buffalo wing sauce and sun-dried tomatoes would be my love for pesto. I’m not sure exactly what it is about it that makes me want it so much but I do crave it on occasion. So when I saw some of the pesto recipes floating around Pinterest I knew I needed to add them to my menu.
Chicken Pesto Stuffed Shells
Author/Source:
Tricia @ Onceamonthmom.com
Ingredients:
- 12-16 jumbo pasta shells
- 4 oz cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 6 Tablespoons pesto #1
- 2 cups chicken, cooked and diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 6 Tablespoons pesto #2
- 8 ounces Mozzarella cheese
Directions:
In a large pot boil water and prepare pasta shells as directed on package. Cook pasta shells only until al dente. Drain the pasta shells and set aside.
In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, Parmesan cheese, pesto #1, chicken and garlic. Fill the pasta shells with the filling and place in a baking dish or flash freeze (see video). Pour over pesto#2 if you are freezing in a baking dish, sprinkle Mozzarella cheese over filled shells.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake shells uncovered for 30 minutes or until shells are hot and cheese melts.
Freezing Directions:
Prepare shells as directed above but DO NOT BAKE. You can put the dish together by placing pesto #2 in the bottom of the pan and covering with Mozzarella. Cover with foil and freeze. OR if you would like you can follow the video to flash freeze them so that you can use them a few at a time. To serve: Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 45 minutes (from frozen state) or until shells are hot.
Servings: 4
[youtube Vtp-b024YUc nolink]
**conversion chart image provided by Erik Spiekermann
This Post will be linked at:
- Friday Favorites at Simply Sweet Home’s
-
Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum
-
Friday Potluck at EKat’s Kitchen
-
Grocery Cart Challenge at Grocery Cart Challenge
- I’m Lovin’ It at Tidy Mom
I had some left over chicken in the fridge and pizza dough on the counter. I saw this recipe and knew that I had to try it as a pizza topping. It was delicious. I’m making extra individual size pizzas to freeze today.
This was yummy!
Oh that sounds delicious!
Just curious do you use white pasta shells. I have looked all over and haven’t found whole wheat shells and thus haven’t had them in some time. Do they even make whole wheat shells?? These look so yummy I might use them for roll ups in whole wheat lasagna I found.
I can only seem to find medium sized whole wheat shells when I look online http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FDMLWW/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=oamm-n-kitchen-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000FDMLWW But I think if you did them with whole wheat lasagna noodles as roll ups they would be great!
I’m making baby steps towards freezer cooking….definitely not ready to take on a once-a-month approach, but will be checking your mini-menus to start with. This recipe is going to be tried TONIGHT! :) Side question – can I reuse a freezer bag?
Welcome Nikki! Hope you like the recipes. And yes you can reuse freezer bags, a lot of folks do. Just be sure to wash it out thoroughly with warm water and soap and let it air dry.
The recipe never says when to use the second amount of pesto. In the dish?
Hi! I watched the video on flash freezing, but just as you were about to tell us HOW to flash freeze, it ended. It is listed as 36 seconds long – did something get chopped off?
I’m just starting to learn freezing… you say put in pan and “Cover with foil and freeze” What kind of pan are you using- glass dish? And just covering with foil is good enough that it will keep well frozen?
You can use a glass dish or we commonly use foil pans. See this post for details – http://onceamonthmom.com/get-started-freezing-containers/
I made this for dinner last night and to quote my husband, “This one’s a keeper!” I’ll admit that I used goat cheese instead of the mozzarella because we really like the combination of pesto and goat cheese so it wasn’t exactly the same as yours, but the filling was the same. We loved it. Thanks!
Oh goat cheese sounds wonderful! So glad it was a “keeper”.
[...] Chicken Pesto Stuffed Shells from Once a Month Mom This is an AWESOME freezer meal. I’ve made this no less than 5 times that [...]