Making stuffed shells the night before?

[Beth H]

My in-laws are coming into town tomorrow night (fun, fun :)) and I would like to prepare a dish tonight so that I'm not so busy tomorrow. I was thinking stuffed shells -- will it be OK to make those tonight and put them in the fridge until tomorrow night? I usually stuff half with beef/sausage and the other half with a ricotta cheese mixture.

Thanks!

[mightyh]

Mine are stuffed with spinach and cheese and I've let them sit all day in the fridge before with no noticeable problem. I dab pasta sauce on the top of them and sprinkle some cheese right before I put them in the oven.

[DmOrtega]

We have no problems with putting together pasta dishes 1 or 2 days in advance in the fridge or even freezer. They heat up just fine.

[ABB]

When I cook lasagna or shells I don't cook the pasta before putting it together. Everyone says I'm crazy but I put plenty of sauce over them and they come out completely tender. Does anyone else do this?

[Beth]

I also say it would be fine to make ahead. Have you ever noticed how leftover lasagna seems to taste better after the flavors meld?

ABB, I no longer cook the pasta when making lasagna, but I do use a thinner sauce and more of it than I would if the pasta were precooked.

[goldilocks]

ABB - I don't bake my pastas either. I particularly do this when I am making my manicotti and it would work with shells too. I normally do them ahead as well with no problems.

Beth - if you are interested in this method, here are some tips. I normally do this in disposable foil pans, since clean up/storage is easy and the foil crimps tightly around the pan. Using your recipe, just make sure to put some sauce in the bottom of the pan before you put your stuffed shells in there. Then cover the shells with sauce (make sure they are covered evenly) and seal tightly with foil. The sauce on top and foil are key here as it steams the pasta. The foil pan allows a really tight seal. I think they probably would have to bake for 45 minutes - 1 hour. I tried this with a pyrex glass dish and because I couldn't get the foil as tight as I needed to, it took a while to bake and did not completely soften. So if you can, use a foil pan to get the seal really tight.