Stuffed Shells

Count on me to make heavy Italian dishes in 80 degree weather :) I can't help it! I love cheese, I love pasta...I won't live without either! The first time you make stuffed shells, it goes pretty slowly because you want to be careful and not break the shells and you're trying to stuff the right amount, etc. But the more times I make this dish, the quicker it goes by. So once upon a time I only made them on weekends, but now I can do this pretty quickly on a weeknight, as long as I remember to thaw the spinach. This is a vegetarian recipe, but I've seen some variations where you can add sausage. Also important to note that this makes more than can fit in one 9x13 pan! So have your 9x9 ready to go as a back-up pan for leftovers (can freeze or eat later in the week). And even then, you might still have extras!



Stuffed Shells

1 box jumbo pasta shells
15oz part-skim ricotta cheese
2 cups shredded mozzarella (one bag of the 2% stuff works)
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan
10oz package of frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 egg, lightly beaten
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp Italian seasoning (I use a little more)
Pinch of ground nutmeg (I use a little more)
26oz jar of your favorite sauce (I use Paul Newman's Marinara)

Preheat oven to 375. PAM your 9x13 baking dish. Cook pasta shells according to package label directions; drain and set aside to cool. While pasta cooks, in a large bowl, stir together ricotta, 1 cup mozzarella, Parmesan, spinach, egg, salt, pepper, Italian seasoning and nutmeg. Spread 3/4 cup spaghetti sauce over bottom of baking dish. Stuff shells with cheese-and-spinach mixture and place in dish. Spoon remaining sauce over shells and sprinkle with remaining 1 cup mozzarella. Cover with foil and bake for 35 minutes. Remove foil and bake about 10 minutes longer, until bubbly and cheese begins to brown.

Enough to eat for a week! In keeping with my love of cheese, Bobby is on call tonight and I plan devour a wedge of brie for dinner :)