CLICK HERE FOR FREE BLOGGER TEMPLATES, LINK BUTTONS AND MORE! »

8.28.2010

Four Cheese Stuffed Shells

I had a request for the recipe from earlier this week so here it is.
1 lb. Jumbo Shell Pasta
1 12 oz carton Cottage Cheese
1 15 oz carton Ricotta Cheese
1 cup Asiago Cheese, shredded
3/4 cup Parmesan Cheese, grated
2 Tbls chives, chopped
2 Tbls parsley, chopped
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1 10 oz pkg Frozen Chopped Spinach (thaw and drain)
6 cups favorite marinara sauce
1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cook pasta according to package directions, drain and set aside. Place cottage cheese and ricotta cheese in food processor; process until smooth. Combine cheese mixture with Asiago, Parmesan, chives, parsley, pepper, salt, and spinach. Spoon filling into plastic bag and snip a 1" hole in corner; pipe filling into shells. Coat two 9x13 pans with cooking spray. Place half of stuffed shells, seam side up, into each pan. In both pans, top pasta with 3 cups marinara sauce and 1/2 cup mozzarella. Cover 1 pan with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Cover other pan with plastic wrap, pressing wrap to remove air, then with heavy-duty foil. Store in freezer for up to 2 months. To cook frozen cheese shells, preheat oven to 375. Remove plastic wrap and replace foil. Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes.

NOTE: I didn't use the asiago cheese or the herbs because I was trying to cut down on buying extra things at the grocery store. Instead, I put some extra mozzarella in with the cheese mixture and used some dried Italian spices I had in the cupboard. Every time I use those spices, I'm not sure I like them so maybe next time I'll fork out for the real thing. I didn't spray my cooking dish (a glass pyrex one) and nothing stuck. Also, I didn't split my shells in half, I just filled my dish. If you use this method, you will NOT get two pans out of this recipe. I  had enough leftover for maybe a fourth? I have been cutting up the extra shells for Madi and saved the extra cheese mixture and sauce in the freezer for something down the road.
Enjoy!

1 comments:

Kate

thanks Amy!

Post a Comment