Mushroom and lentil cottage pie
A savoury mushroom-lentil filling with a soft potato topping.
About 1 hr · 360 kcal · 20 g protein per serving
Vegetarian
Spinach and ricotta stuffed shells
Pasta shells filled with spinach and ricotta beneath a tomato sauce.
By The foodose editorial team. Nutrition calculated from USDA FoodData Central. Checked on paper on 12 September 2026; not yet cooked in a test kitchen or photographed, so the times and yield are estimates. How we develop our recipes
What still needs a real kitchen
- Confirm 120 g of shells holds this much filling
- Photograph the finished dish
- Time
- About 55 min
- estimated
- Serves
- 2
- see below
- Energy
- 540 kcal
- per serving
- Protein
- 30 g
- per serving
Ingredients for 2 servings
Check off ingredients as you go.
Contains gluten, milk. Check the labels on packaged ingredients:
- large pasta shells. Most dry pasta is just wheat and water, but some contains egg; check the packet.
- passata. Some passata is salted; check the label.
- mozzarella. Some mozzarella is made with animal rennet; check the label if you are vegetarian.
Cooking steps
Heat the oven to 190°C / 375°F (170°C fan). Cook the pasta shells in boiling water until just flexible, about 2 minutes short of the packet time, then drain and spread them out to cool.
Warm the oil in a pan, wilt the spinach for a minute, then press it dry in a sieve and chop it.
Mix the spinach with the ricotta, cottage cheese and nutmeg. Drain the mixture if it looks wet, or the shells will not hold their shape.
Spread the passata in a baking dish. Fill the shells, sit them on the sauce and scatter the mozzarella over.
Cover with foil and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until hot all the way through, then uncover for the last 5 minutes.
Cooked when: 74°C / 165°F, steaming hot throughout. A food thermometer is the reliable way to tell.
The useful detail
Drain the filling well so the shells hold their shape. A wet ricotta mixture runs out as it heats and leaves the shells hollow in a puddle of sauce.
Make it work for you
One serving is Half the dish. You can switch to a smaller portion in the ingredients above; it is three quarters of this, and it contains correspondingly less energy and protein. It is an option, not a goal.
Part-skim ricotta
Firmer, and easier to pipe into the shells.
Per serving: about 10 kcal less, about 3 g more protein, about 2 g less fat.
A vegetarian hard cheese on top
Sharper, and it browns rather than stretching.
Per serving: about 20 kcal more, about 2 g more protein, about 1 g more fat.
Tinned chopped tomatoes instead of passata
Chunkier under the shells.
Per serving: about 35 kcal less, about 1 g less protein, about the same fat.
Estimated nutrition
Per standard serving, calculated from the ingredients above. Nutrition changes with substitutions, brands and how much oil stays in the pan.
A filled-pasta dinner where two soft cheeses carry the protein, which is why it is higher than a plain baked pasta.
| Energy | 540 kcal |
|---|---|
| Protein | 30 g |
| Fat | 17 g |
| of which saturates | 8 g |
| Carbohydrate | 69 g |
| of which sugars | 11 g |
| Fibre | 6 g |
| Sodium | 500 mg |
Show calculation notes
Each ingredient’s weight is multiplied by its USDA FoodData Central values per 100 g. The whole recipe is added up and divided by 2. Raw weights are used for meat, fish and vegetables; beans and lentils are drained weights. All of the oil is counted as eaten. Added salt is not included; sodium from stock, bread, cheese and tinned food is.
| Ingredient | Weight used | Source | Energy | Protein |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| large pasta shells | 120 g | FDC 169736Pasta, dry, enrichedFoodData Central records dry pasta as one entry rather than by shape, so linguine, lasagne, cannelloni and shells all use it. | 445 kcal | 15.6 g |
| olive oil | 4.5 g | FDC 171413Oil, olive, salad or cooking | 40 kcal | 0.0 g |
| spinach | 120 g | FDC 168462Spinach, raw | 28 kcal | 3.4 g |
| ricotta | 150 g | FDC 170851Cheese, ricotta, whole milk | 225 kcal | 11.3 g |
| cottage cheese | 150 g | FDC 172179Cheese, cottage, creamed, large or small curd | 147 kcal | 16.7 g |
| ground nutmeg | 0.5 g | FDC 171326Spices, nutmeg, ground | 2 kcal | 0.0 g |
| passata | 300 g | FDC 170460Tomato products, canned, puree, without salt addedCalculated with FoodData Central's unsalted tinned tomato purée record, the closest match to sieved passata. | 114 kcal | 4.9 g |
| mozzarella | 30 g | FDC 170847Cheese, mozzarella, part skim milk | 76 kcal | 7.3 g |
| Whole recipe | Divided by 2 | 1077 kcal | 59.3 g |
Per serving the energy is rounded to the nearest 5 kcal, grams to the nearest whole gram and sodium to the nearest 10 mg. Calculation method 1.0, September 2026. How the calculation works.
Storage and reheating
- In the fridge
- Cool, cover and refrigerate within 2 hours of cooking. Eat within 3 to 4 days. It reheats well; add a splash of water before it goes back in the oven.
- In the freezer
- Freezing keeps food safe indefinitely; the texture is best if it is eaten sooner rather than later.
- Reheating
- Reheat until it reaches 74°C / 165°F, steaming hot throughout.
Checked against US Food and Drug Administration, Refrigerator and Freezer Storage Chart, USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, Leftovers and Food Safety, FoodSafety.gov, Safe Minimum Internal Temperatures and FoodSafety.gov, Cold Food Storage Chart. UK guidance from the Food Standards Agency is shorter, at two days for most leftovers.
Try another recipe
Aubergine and cottage cheese parmigiana
Soft roasted aubergine layered with tomato, cottage cheese and mozzarella.
About 1 hr 10 min · 310 kcal · 22 g protein per serving
Vegetarian