What's Cookin' Wednesday

Spinach Ricotta Stuffed Shells

Like I said, I swear we don't eat noodles every day. To be quite honest, I was going to post the Aloo Gobi (an Indian dish) I made the day after this, but... that took a little more effort. Also, boyfriend just loves Italian. I would totally just stuff it with a bunch of cheese, but I guess you gotta add a veggie in there. Plus, the spinach gives a bit of protein to the dish.

This is a meal that you can just toss all the things together and walk away. Super easy for a busy week night. At first, the stuffing of the shell can be a bit tedious, but once you get the hang of it, it goes quickly.

 

Ingredients:

25 jumbo shells

1 c. mozzarella cheese

15 oz. Ricotta

1/4 c. parmesan cheese

1 egg

12 oz. bag of spinach, thawed

1 1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning

1/2 c. mozzarella cheese

Salt & Pepper to taste

Sauce:

28 oz. can crushed tomatoes

1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder

2 tsp. oregano

1 tsp. Italian seasoning

1/2 tsp. onion powder

How to:

Preheat the oven to 350°.

Bring water in a large sauce pan to a boil, and toss in the noodles. Cook until al dente and set aside. While those are boiling, start on the stuffing! In a bowl, combine the ricotta, parmesan cheese, egg, Italian seasoning, and mozzarella. Squeeze all the extra water out of the spinach and mix that into the cheese. After you've done this, if you choose, you can make the sauce by simply combining all the ingredients in a medium saucepan. If you don't want to do that, you can simply use your favorite red sauce. Spread about a 1/2 cup of this on the bottom of a greased 9x13 pan.

Once the noodles are done, drain them and rinse. Put a generous amount of stuffing in each shell, placing each in the 9x13. When they've all been stuffed, pour the rest of your sauce on top of the noodles. Spread the remaining cup of cheese on top and sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Pop that in the oven for 30 minutes.

Serve immediately and enjoy!

Are there any recipes your curious about? Comment below!

As always, let me know if you try this and how it turns out! (: