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jumbo pasta shells filled with browned ground beef and tiny pickle pieces in a smooth pale-orange cheddar sauce with a lightly melted cheese top
Andre Lewis

Cheeseburger Stuffed Shells

Finely chopped pickles go into the beef filling, where their tang reaches each shell without leaving a cold topping on a hot pasta bake. Drain them well before mixing. The cheese sauce is made separately and stays smooth when you melt the cheddar off the heat. A little ketchup and mustard season the meat, not the whole dish, so the finished shells still taste like beef and cheese rather than a pan of warmed condiments. Serve while the sauce can settle between the shells instead of standing in stiff spoon marks.
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Servings: 6
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

  • 18 jumbo pasta shells about 6 oz
  • 1 tbsp fine salt for pasta water
  • 1 lb 90% lean ground beef
  • 1/2 medium yellow onion finely diced
  • 2 tbsp ketchup
  • 2 tsp yellow mustard
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped dill pickles well drained
  • 1/2 tsp fine salt for filling and sauce, divided
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 1 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter
  • 1 1/2 tbsp all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 cups whole milk
  • 5 oz cheddar cheese grated, divided

Method
 

  1. Heat the oven to 375°F. Cook shells in water with the tablespoon salt until 2 minutes short of the package time, then drain gently and separate.
  2. Brown beef and onion in a skillet for 7 to 8 minutes until the meat reaches 160°F. Drain excess fat and stir in ketchup, mustard, pickles, 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper; remove from the heat.
  3. Melt butter in a saucepan, whisk in flour and cook for 1 minute. Whisk in milk gradually and simmer for 3 to 4 minutes until lightly thickened, then remove from the heat and stir in 3 oz cheddar and remaining salt.
  4. Spread 1/2 cup cheese sauce in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Fill shells with the beef, arrange open-side up, spoon remaining sauce over them and scatter the remaining 2 oz cheddar on top.
  5. Cover and bake for 25 minutes, then uncover for 5 to 8 minutes until hot with the filling at 165°F. Rest for 5 minutes and serve three shells per person.