Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Stuffed Shells with Beef & Mozzarella

I made this last night for the hubbie and he LOVED it. I must say I enjoyed it as well... super delicious!

Stuffed Shells:
(from Katie at Good Things Catered)















Ingredients:
(makes approximately 25 stuffed shells - this was enough for dinner for 2-3 people with 2-3 extra meals to freeze and use for left overs)
1 box large pasta shells
1.5 ground lean beef or turkey
4 c. pasta sauce
4 c. mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 small sweet onion, diced
6 oz. small white mushrooms, diced
1 c. spinach, blanched and chopped
1 large clove garlic, minced or pressed
1 Tbsp. fresh parsley, minced
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. black pepper
1 egg

Directions:

  • Bring about 8 c. water to a boil and cook shells to al dente according to package instructions, reserving 1/8 cup pasta water.

  • While the pasta is cooking, place ground meat in a hot pan to brown.

  • Remove meat from pan and over medium-high heat cook onions until translucent (about 5 min).

  • Add mushrooms to begin to brown (about 2 min).

  • Add garlic and cook until just fragrant (about 30 sec).

  • Stirring constantly add reserved pasta water to pan to release all flavor/brown bits from bottom of pan.

  • Add meat back to the pan along with spinach and cook 3 min additional to reduce liquid.

  • Remove from pan and let cool completely.

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

  • Spray the bottom of a large baking dish with cooking spray and spread 1 c. sauce on bottom to coat evenly.

  • Once meat mixture is cooled completely, add parsley, cayenne, nutmeg, salt, pepper, and egg and mix to combine completely.

  • Add 3 c. mozzarella and combine.

  • Stuff each shell with as much as it can hold and place into baking dish.

  • Once all shells are stuffed and set in pan, spoon extra sauce on top of each shell.

  • Cover with foil and place in oven to cook for 30 mins.

  • Remove foil, sprinkle remaining 1 c. of mozzarella evenly over each shell and place back into oven, uncovered to cook for 5 min.

  • Remove from oven and serve!!



This is a great recipe. I served it with a fresh side salad and a nice glass of red wine!

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