Stuffed Shells

Since we are on a pasta roll here, I thought I would

share a recipe for stuffed shells.  The spinach filling

is the same that we used for the ravioli we made here

as well as the garden tomato sauce. My sister Cindy, 

suggested using the filling to stuff shells and I thought

it was a great idea.   Although you could use fresh 

spinach if you have it,  the frozen works perfectly.

Thaw the frozen spinach.  You can do it

in a microwave if you forget to take it out

of the freezer in time.

Then put the spinach in a clean dishtowel

And twist it until all the liquid comes out.  You will be surprised

how much water will still be in the spinach.

Finely chop a little onion and break apart the spinach.

Saute the onion in butter and when softened, add the spinach 

and salt and pepper to taste.

In a medium sized bowl, add ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese

and egg yolk.  Mix all together.

Add the spinach mixture and stir.

That's the filling. Set aside until your ready to stuff the shells.

Now to make the pasta sauce.

Chop onions, carrots and garlic. Ideally you would do all the

chopping at one time - for the filling and the sauce.

Saute in saucepan in butter and when vegetables are tender add

two cans of crushed tomatoes.  San Marzona tomatoes are the

best, but I was out, so I used what I had.

Simmer with lid on for about an hour, stirring every so often.

When it is done, add cream and fresh basil.

That's it!  A very easy and delicious pasta sauce.  

Cook jumbo shells according to package directions. Drain 

and cool (so you don't burn your fingers!) and then

fill those babies up.

Top with that wonderful fresh pasta sauce.  You will have

leftover sauce to freeze and use another time.

Layer on more parmesan cheese and some mozzerella or

any grated Italian blend.

Bake until everything is hot and bubbly.

I forgot to take a picture of the finished product, but 

you can imagine it, all gooey and melty on top, right?

Really good......

I had enough to make an extra small dish to freeze

and I used the leftover filling for omelets the next evening,

with a simple green salad with viniagrette.  This was our

first salad of the season with my garden lettuce.

Isn't it pretty?

Spinach Filling

1 box frozen chopped spinach, drained

1/2 medium onion, minced fine

1 cup ricotta cheese

3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

1 large egg yolk

3 T. butter

Saute onion in butter. Add spinach when

onion is soft.  Salt and pepper to taste.

In med. bowl, mix ricotta cheese, egg yolk

and parmesan cheese.  Stir in spinach mixture.

Garden Vegetable Pasta Sauce

1 medium onion, chopped

2 medium carrots, chopped fine

2 large cloves garlic, minced

4 T. butter

2 cans crushed tomatoes

1/4 - 1/2 cup heavy cream

fresh basil, shredded

Saute onion, carrots and garlic in butter

until vegetables are tender.  Do not brown

garlic.  Add canned tomatoes.  Cover and

simmer for about an hour.  Add cream and

basil before serving.

Inspired by recipe in The Complete Italian Vegetarian Cookbook

*Goal # 10 - Eat 3 meatless meals a week

*Goal #23  - Try 50 new recipes

*Goal #43 - Expand my vegetable gardens