Stuffed Shells

This is a recipe I have made after combining two different recipes. One was a vegetarian version, which was delicious but not so popular in carnivorous Chaosville, and the other was a meatball only version that just seemed like it needed a little more "oomph".

The Ingredients:

Jumbo Shell Pasta

Pasta sauce of your choosing

Ricotta cheese

Parmesan cheese

Italian seasonings (I used dried Oregano and Basil since I had it on hand, and some Garlic Powder too)

**Not pictured--Shredded Mozzarella and Meatballs

The first thing you may want to do is round up some first rate sous chefs. These are mine and they are not for hire to anyone else...sorry!

Now, put on a big pot of water to boil for the pasta and while that is working you can prep the filling. If you need to precook your meatballs go ahead and do that now as well. I bought frozen meatballs and they were heating in the oven while the pasta cooked. In a mixing bowl, blend together the Ricotta, seasonings, Parmesan, garlic and about 1 cup of shredded Mozzarella. This is one of the rare times I don't measure. I just sprinkle them in until it looks right and smells yummy.

When the pasta shells are done cooking, drain and rinse them in cold water to cool them down enough for handling. Even so, this is not a job for my sous chef, so he took the pictures. Scoop a small amount of the cheese blend into each pasta shell.

Then plunk in a meatball.

Put the filled shells in a baking pan that you have sprayed with cooking spray or something similar. I used Olive oil in a kitchen spritzer bottle. You should also put a thin layer of pasta sauce on the bottom of the dish but I forgot this step. When you have filled all the shells, pour the remaining sauce over the dish and sprinkle with shredded cheese. I had enough shells and meatballs but ran low on the cheese filling so the ones in the white dish are the plain meatball kinds with one for Clay that had 2 meatballs in it.

Cover the dish with foil and bake at 375 degrees for 35 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 5 -10 minutes until cheese is bubbly and it looks too good to wait any longer.

This dish is a big hit with the clones! This time I also made some Pillsbury Breadsticks (from the tube). When they were done, I brushed them with a mix of melted butter, parmesan cheese and garlic powder...deelish!

Buon appetito!