Recipe Rescue; Dancing With Stuffed Shells!

Stuffed shells are so easy, I forget to include them more in my weekly meal planning. Aside from being easy,  stuffed shells are very flexible. You can load them with cheese and lather them in a simple meatless marinara or load them with crab, spinach and more and get crazy with your sauce. As long as you have the basics down, stuffed shells can become a family favorite each week.

What You'll Need:

12oz box jumbo shells
1 or 2 jars (26oz) of your favorite pasta sauce*
1 pound hamburger or 1 pound ground turkey
1 medium onion
2 Tbsp garlic power
8oz package of shredded Italian blend cheese
1 32oz container of low fat ricotta
1 Tbsp dried parsley
1 large whole egg

-If you want to add spinach, use a
10oz frozen spinach package, defrosted
and drained. (sometimes I'll just finely
chopped fresh spinach, about half a bunch)

-to lower sodium content, try using a large
can of diced tomatoes or tomato puree, add
garlic, Italian seasoning and a small onion
and let simmer at least fifteen minutes
before using.

-this recipe is also great meatless, if
you choose to leave out the meat, omit
the hamburger or ground turkey, medium onion
and 1 Tbsp of garlic powder.

Putting It Together:

preheat oven to 400

cook shells in salted water as per
package, minus about four minutes.
you want the shells to be a little
firm. (they will continue to cook
in the oven) drain and set aside.

brown the hamburger with a little olive
oil if you have it, a tablespoon
of garlic powder and s/p to taste with
medium onion. once brown, add to sauce.

-if making your own sauce, do this
in tandem with the noodles.
-if using a jar, heat the sauce in
a medium sauce pan.

in a medium bowl combine ricotta,
egg, garlic, 1/3 cup cheese blend
and parsley then blend well.

in a 9"x 11" baking dish label in
enough sauce to just cover the bottom
of the dish.

now stuff the shells with about a
tablespoon and a half of stuffing
mixture and set into the baking dish
open side up,repeat until all
shells are stuffed. cover with the
rest of the sauce and top with
remaining cheese.

bake for 25-30 minutes or until
bubbling and cheese has started
to brown.

As I read over this recipe, I get a little intimidated, I hope that you don't. Stuffed shells really are easy, once you do it the first time you'll see what I mean. And no, they don't take very long to put together at all. Dare to dance with the stuffed shells and let me know what you think.

I serve this dish with a side salad and hot french bread. Enjoy!