When I make stuff shells, I never use cream. I just mix ricotta, mozzarella and an egg for the filling (same for manicotti). Actually, I usually throw in a lot of cooked, frozen spinach too to make it a one dish meal. Grated Parmesan is good in it but not essential.

Have you tried the recipe on the pasta box?

Anonymous wrote:Have you tried taking lactase enzymes?

Not op, but I'd guess if the soft cheeses are okay but not the hard ones, it's not a lactose problem. I can't always handle lactose and the soft cheeses like ricotta and fresh mozzarella, which I love, hit the hardest.

Harder cheeses have very little lactose
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/dairy-foods-low-in-lactose

I would skip the cream, cut back the panko in half so not too dry (or add an extra egg), up the amount of ricotta by 1/4 cup, and add 1 T of lemon zest to the ricotta to brighten it up in place of the parmesan.

Coconut milk

Have you tried taking lactase enzymes?

Anonymous wrote:why the pork though? whyyyyy????

Doesn't a lot of Italian cooking primarily use pork? I just came back from Italy and it was primarily guaniciale in pastas with meat, maybe lamb, rarely beef it seemed

If you take out the the cream, can you use 1/4 c milk plus another 1/4 c ricotta? Taking out the parm and leaving it out is probably find from a cooking standpoint. The flavor will be different tho. You could just up the mozzarella. Is there another hard cheese that you can eat? If not, I’d up the mozzarella by a small handful and toss in a little more garlic and onion powder.

why the pork though? whyyyyy????

https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/pork-and-ricotta-stuffed-jumbo-shells

I've recently become very sensitive to some - but not all - dairy.. Ricotta and mozzarella are still in, for example, but parmesan Reggiano is out according to my stomach. Twice during the pandemic I made stuffed shells and my family keeps asking me to make them again. I'd like to try this recipe, but need to substitute the heavy cream and parmesan with something else. Any suggestions?