I made another quick but fabulously cheesy and delicious dinner last night. I have to admit it was harder than it looked but I succeeded and made a mess of the kitchen and myself - good thing the hubby wasn't home to see his comfy fleece covered in cheese! Alright, it was just the sleeve - stuffing shells is messy work, so be prepared.
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| Spinach, Mushroom & Ricotta Stuffed Shells with Bloomin' Herb Bread. |
I think I'm really going to miss these cheesy monstrosities when J gets back home and I have to start cooking chicken and steak and all things not cheesy and gooey. The things we do for those we love. Maybe I'll have to start cooking up a dish on Sunday just so I have leftovers of "me food" for lunch during the week.
I found this recipe at work, shamelessly browsing blogs as I always do. The pictures are fabulous and I also loved her Recipe Rundown, check it out here.
I maybe splurged a bit last night :)
Spinach, Mushroom and Ricotta Stuffed Shells
borrowed from handletheheat
Ingredients:
1 15-ounce container part-skim ricotta (I forgot the part-skim part, opps)
20 jumbo pasta shells (about half a 12-ounce box) - I used a bit more than half the box
2 cups baby spinach, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
8 oz chopped mushrooms - I used the rest of the container from my quiche
1/2 cup grated Parmesan (2 ounces)
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup grated mozzarella (4 ounces)
First and foremost: Move your oven rack to the top shelf and turn the oven on to 400 degrees. I forgot to turn my oven on and had to wait, drooling over my shells for it to pre-heat.
Cook the pasta according to the box directions.
In an oven-safe dish, pour the marinara sauce into the bottom. I used the Rustico because it has extra veggies in the sauce, which I'm a sucker for. Ragu's Veggie sauce is just as good, fyi.
While the pasta is cooking, chop your mushrooms.
And your spinach.
And of course, the basil.
Combine the veggies with the Ricotta cheese. I decided to toss everything into a ziplock, thinking it would make for easier stuffing.
Add the Parmesan.
And the salt and pepper to taste.
Mix it all up! This was actually kind of hard, and I can now see why the original recipe said to use a bowl first.
Once your pasta is done, drain and rinse it under cold water to cool the shells.
Here is the hard part, take each shell and stuff it and then place it in the pasta sauce. I cut a corner out of my ziplock and attempted to stuff them that way. It was not easy. I made a pretty big mess. If you have a buddy, it could be easier, but maybe not. Also, a lot of my shells were broken and/or torn but I just stuffed and added them to the pan. Taste over beauty right?
This was my ziplock, about a third of the way through my shells I gave in, cut my bag and used my hands. Its messy but it works!
Sprinkle the Mozzarella over the shells and bake them in the oven for 10-12 minutes or until the sauce bubbles and the shells are warmed throughout.
My shells after 11 minutes. Once the shells are warm, turn on the broiler and broil until the cheese browns. About 2 or 3 minutes.
How great does that look??
1 comment:
i'm totally making this for a potluck tonight... and i'll certainly need the luck part :)
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