Unique Stuffed Shells And Tomato Sauce Recipe 445

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain. Set aside in warm water.
• In a large heavy skillet saute mushrooms, garlic and onions. Add ground turkey and cook until evenly brown. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat, and stir in spinach, parsley, cottage cheese and Parmesan cheese.
• Stuff the cooked shells with the mixture, and place in a 9x13 inch baking dish. Cover with spaghetti sauce, and sprinkle top with mozzarella cheese.
• Cover with foil, and bake in preheated oven for 30 to 45 minutes, or until heated through.

Steps:

• For the sauce: mince onion, sautee' in olive oil with dried Italian seasoning till soft, add the crushed tomatoes and the whole tomatoes breaking the whole tomatoes up with your hands into the pot (it's fun, try it!). Add sugar salt and pepper. Simmer 15 minutes or so on low heat, add chopped basil, stir and take off the heat. Set aside.
• Get a large pot of salted water to a boil, cook the shells till aldente (less if you're freezing them) drain and run cold water over. Keep in a bowl or pot of cold water till time to use.
• For the ricotta filling: to a bowl add all the ingredients, stir and taste for seasoning, adjust for salt/pepper if needed.
• For the meat filling: brown ground beef in a medium hot high sided pan (till there's no more pink) drain fat add onion and garlic. Cook till the onion is translucent. Stir in spinach and cook till wilted down. (you may have to drain again).
• Allow to cool completely and then stir in one egg, bread crumbs and cheese.
• Stuff: to easily stuff with the ricotta cheese, pile it into a zip lock bag and snip a corner off, cup a shell in one hand and squeeze the cheese into the shell with the other.
• Stuff: spoon the meat mixture into the other half of the shells, cup a shell in one hand and spoon the meat into the shell with the other hand. Pat down top to kind of pack the meat in a little.
• Freeze: place the stuffed shells on parchment or paper lined cookie sheets in the freezer and allow to freeze till completely hardened. Then you can place them in zip lock bags to use later.
• Cook: in a large lasagna sized pan, spoon some of the tomato sauce on the bottom and add about ¼ cup of water. place the shells in one layer on top of the sauce, and spoon more sauce on top. Cover tightly with foil and bake about 15 - 20 minutes at 375* take the foil off and top with remaining shredded mozzarella cheese and return to oven for about another 10 minutes.
• Allow to cool about 10 minutes before serving.

Steps:

• Cook shells according to package directions. Take 6 minutes off of cooking time. Drain well, cool under cold running water, and toss with a minimal amount of olive oil (or cooking spray) to prevent sticking.
• Meanwhile, season chicken on both sides with salt and pepper. Cut into small pieces. Heat 3 tbsp olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook chicken until golden brown on both sides. Drain on paper towels.
• In same skillet, cook garlic, onion, carrot, celery and red pepper flakes. Cook 5 minutes. Add spinach, and cook 10 minutes more. Season with salt and pepper.
• Combine chicken and spinach mixture. purée in a food processor or blender. (If you have a small machine, do this in batches.).
• In a large bowl, combine ricotta, egg, Romano, parsley and basil. Season with salt and pepper and mix well. Add chicken purée and combine very well. Chill for 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, prepare sauce. In a large stockpot, heat 3 tbsp olive oil on medium-high heat. Add onion, garlic and carrot, and sauté until onion begins to brown. Add tomatoes and purée. Stir well. Add wine and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and let simmer 30 minutes.
• After 30 minutes, add parsley and basil to sauce, and cook 15 minutes more. Working in batches, purée sauce in blender; return to same pot. (If you have a hand blender, you can use it right in the pot). Add cream and simmer 15 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a large baking pan well with cooking spray. Place a thin layer of sauce in bottom of baking pan.
• Stuff shells with chicken mixture. (I find a pastry bag with no tip is ideal for this. If you don't have one, try a demitasse spoon.) Mixture should come to top of shells.
• Place shells in baking pan in a single layer. When all shells are filled, cover with sauce. Top with grated provolone, and parsley.
• Bake for 20 minutes. Cheese should be golden and sauce should be bubbly. Let sit for 10 minutes before serving.
• Note:.
• You can substitute half-and-half, or evaporated skim milk for the cream.
• The cream sauce can be made up to 2 days ahead.
• The entire dish can be made ahead of time and frozen (either baked or unbaked). Cover top with plastic wrap then aluminum foil. If unbaked: remove plastic wrap, and re-wrap with foil. Place in a low oven (250 degrees F.) and bake until a knife is easily inserted. Then raise heat to 350 degrees F. and bake as above. If baked: remove plastic wrap and rewrap with foil. Bake at 350 degrees F. until hot.