Ricotta & Spinach Stuffed Shells

for one...

A couple of weekends ago, I had the luxury of spending quite a bit of time playing in the kitchen and took full advantage of it by making several dishes. This was my first time making stuffed shells and for the life of me, I can't figure out why I've never made these before given just how easy they were. What I really like about this dish is the that you can make up a whole batch and eat them right away, or you can do like I did: freeze them individually so you can pull out as many or as few as you want on a day that you just don't feel like cooking.

Ricotta & Spinach Stuffed Shells

for a crowd...

Ingredients:

1 Tbs. olive oil

1 shallot, minced

6 ounces spinach (I used fresh, but you could always use frozen/defrosted)

1 tsp. lemon pepper

1/2 tsp. garlic powder (go ahead... you know you want to use fresh)

1 tsp. dried basil

pinch of nutmeg

salt & pepper to taste

15 ounces ricotta cheese (I used part-skim instead of whole milk ricotta)

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

18-24 jumbo shells, cooked shy of al dente and tossed in olive oil to prevent sticking  (different brands of pasta make different size "jumbo" shells)

Directions:

In a saute pan over medium-low heat, cook the shallot in olive oil until slightly softened, about 2-3 minutes. Stir in the spinach and all spices, continuing to cook until the spinach has wilted and most of the moisture has cooked out, about 6-8 minutes. Set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, combine the cheeses and the cooled spinach mixture. Fill each of the shells with the cheese mixture. Once all of the shells are stuffed, you've got a couple of options...

Option #1: Cover the bottom of a glass baking dish with your favorite marinara and nestle the stuffed shells down into the sauce. Drizzle on some olive oil , cover tightly with foil, and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes before removing the foil and baking for another 10 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and bubbly.

Or, Option #2 (what I did): Spread out the stuffed shells on a lightly oiled baking sheet and place them into the freezer until they are frozen solid, about 2 hours. Once they're frozen, you can transfer them to a freezer bag and not worry about them sticking together. When you're ready to eat them, you can pull out as many as you want (bake up a big pan to feed a crowd, or pull out a few and bake in an individual casserole dish for one) and follow the directions in Option #1, although you'll need to add to the cooking time if they're frozen.

Enjoy!