Stuffed Shells

Tonight I made stuffed shells for the first time. They took about an hour but were well worth it. It's the perfect thing to make on the weekend because the recipe makes a ton of stuffing which can easily be frozen. I only prepared 16 shells and ended up having almost half a recipe of filling left... which is in the freezer now!

I used Emril's recipe below, but made some tweaks. Nothing crazy except for the sauce...

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 (12-ounce) box jumbo pasta shells (18 to 20 shells)
• 2 cups finely chopped onion
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 1 pound ground beef or sausage
• 1 (10-ounce) package frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
• 15 ounces ricotta cheese
• 2 large eggs
• .5 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1.5 cups grated mozzarella cheese
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• Red Sauce (alysse's change: saute garlic, onion, purred carrots and tomatoes for 10 minutes, then add half a bottle of sauce and warm in the pan until ready to pour over shells)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 2-quart casserole dish with 1 teaspoon of olive oil.
Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Add 1 teaspoon of the salt and the pasta shells, and cook until al dente (dont over cook!!!), 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally with a long-handled spoon to prevent the shells from sticking together. Drain and rinse under cold running water. Drain.

In a medium skillet, heat the remaining tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic and cook, stirring, until very soft, 6 to 7 minutes. Add the ground veal and cook, stirring, until cooked and browned. Add the squeezed spinach and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and season with salt and pepper.

Remove the spinach and beef mixture from pan. In the same pan, saute olive oil. Then add 3 cloves garlic and a minced onion. Purree 5 large carrots in a food proccessor and add to the pan. Add one can of tomatoes and simmer for 10 minutes. Then add half a jar of tomato sauce and heat until ready. 

In a large bowl, combine the ricotta cheese, eggs, Parmesan cheese, and 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese. Add the spinach mixture, the extra-virgin olive oil, remaining teaspoon of salt, the basil, oregano, and pepper, and stir to combine thoroughly. Spoon about 2 tablespoons of the spinach-ricotta filling into each cooked pasta shell. Place the filled shells in the prepared dish.

Pour Sauce over the filled shells and top with the remaining 1 cup of mozzarella cheese. Bake, uncovered, until bubbly, about 35 minutes. Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes before serving.