Cheeseburger Stuffed Pasta Shells

Memorial Day. I drove to the cemeteries alone, 6 a.m., before anyone was awake. Larry's grave first — the grass grown in, the headstone settled, the marker of a man who drove the same roads I drive and died on one of them. Three years. 'Dad,' I said, 'they want me to write a book. A book about cooking in a truck cab. You would think that's crazy. You would also eat everything I cooked and tell me it was good, and the combination of thinking I'm crazy and eating everything is the most Larry thing I can imagine.'

Then Darla's grave. 'Darla, Amber wants to be a social worker. She wants to help women like you. I know you would be proud of her. I know you would also be terrified for her, because helping women in danger means being near the danger, and you know what the danger looks like. But Amber is strong. Amber is the strongest person I know, and Justin said I'm the toughest, but Amber is the strongest, and the difference between tough and strong is that tough survives and strong changes things, and Amber is going to change things.'

We grilled at home. Burgers and brats. Dave at the grill. Gayle in a lawn chair. The kids in the yard. The sound of summer arriving in the sizzle of the grill and the laughter of children and the quiet conversation of a grandmother and a daughter-in-law who are not actually related by blood but are related by everything that matters more than blood: loyalty, presence, the willingness to show up with a blanket and a lawn chair and sit in the yard and eat a burger and be alive on a day that honors the dead.

I made Dave's potato salad — his recipe, his tradition, his contribution. Red potatoes, hard-boiled eggs, celery, onion, mayo, mustard. Dave makes it the same every time. The same-every-time is Dave. The same-every-time is enough.

We don’t grill every day, but the flavors from that Memorial Day afternoon — the char on the burgers, the smell of smoke, Dave steady at the grill — have a way of staying with me. When the week gets heavy and I want to bring some of that back to the table without firing up the grill, these cheeseburger stuffed pasta shells are what I reach for. All the comfort of what we ate in the yard, honoring the people we love, tucked into something warm enough for any ordinary evening that deserves to feel like more.

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 35 minutes | Total Time: 55 minutes | Servings: 6

Ingredients

20 jumbo pasta shells
1 lb ground beef (80/20)
1/2 medium yellow onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon yellow mustard
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup dill pickle slices, roughly chopped (optional)
1 cup marinara or tomato sauce, for the pan

Instructions

Cook the shells. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook jumbo pasta shells 2 minutes less than package directions (they will finish in the oven). Drain, rinse with cold water, and lay flat on a sheet pan to cool.
Brown the beef. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook ground beef and diced onion, breaking the meat up as it cooks, until no pink remains, about 7–8 minutes. Add garlic and cook 1 minute more. Drain excess fat.
Season the filling. Stir ketchup, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper into the beef mixture. Remove from heat and let cool 5 minutes.
Mix in the cheese. Stir cream cheese and 1/2 cup of the shredded cheddar into the beef mixture until fully combined. Fold in chopped pickles if using.
Prep the baking dish. Preheat oven to 375°F. Spread tomato sauce evenly across the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish.
Stuff the shells. Spoon about 2 tablespoons of filling into each pasta shell and nestle them snugly into the baking dish, open side up.
Top and bake. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup cheddar and the mozzarella over the tops of the shells. Cover with foil and bake 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 10–15 minutes until cheese is bubbly and beginning to brown.
Rest and serve. Let the dish rest 5 minutes before serving. Garnish with extra pickle slices or a drizzle of ketchup and mustard if desired.

Nutrition (per serving)

Cheeseburger Stuffed Pasta Shells — Dave’s Grill, Carried Inside