STUFFED SHELLS

STUFFED SHELLS

This is a great recipe for either a  vegetarian or carnivore either way everybody will be happy.  And this is one of the recipes that freezes really well. So you can make a lot of it freeze it (don't forget to date it) and then in the case of food emergency wahlla dinner ready for a hungry family.
If you are a veggie person just leave out the meat.

Have a (about) 14 by 9 inch glass dish or casserole dish ready.

INGREDIENTS:
1 lb of meat.  Turkey, beef, pork, basically your choice.
2 Tablespoons of olive oil.
1 Large Onion chopped
4 cloves of garlic chopped.
1 Jalapeno chopped (optional)
1 Box of Jumbo Shells  Brand (Ronzoni) or 12 oz of shell.
32 oz of Ricotta Cheese
3 cans 8 oz of Tomato sauce.
1 can 12 oz Tomato paste.
15 oz can of Stewed Tomatos.
1 package of frozen or fresh spinach.
2 cups or 8 oz of shredded Mozzarella cheese.
1 Teaspoon of each your choice.  Nutmeg, Cinnamon, Cumin, Black Pepper, Basil.

METHOD OF PREPARATION. 

FIRST: COOKING THE SHELLS  Cooking the Shells
Fill a pot with water. Turn stove top to high. As soon as you see little bubbles add the shells to the water.  Stir the shells to prevent from sticking together.  If need be turn down the burner to Med-High  the noodles will still cook.  Leaving the water on high the entire time will only make the water boil up and over.  The noodles will cook at Med-High, Medium, and even Medium Low.   Test the noodles along the way.  When you see white foam on top of the water, that is when their close to being done.  That is the starch coming out.
1. If  it's chewy, it's not done.   
2. If it's a little less chewy, but still not soft, it's still  not done.  
3. If  it is soft and not mushy, it's probably done.  

Turn off the burner and drain the hot water off in a separate bowl. Add cold water to the shells and leave until they are easy to handle. 
NEXT Putting shells together. First drain off the water. Next check out the shell their will be nice shell and mangled shells. Pick up a nice shell and double it up with a torn shell.  Have a plate out to set the shell on as you put them together.  So when your done you will have shells that are doubled up.  If their is any left over tear them up and put them on top of the finished food. Cover the shells up really well and set aside.

SECOND: CHOPPING VEGGIES AND SAUTEING 
Chop the onions, garlic, and jalapenos. Place all in large pan and add two table spoons of olive oil.  Saute on Medium, stir occasionally  To help you keep track of when the mixture is done sauteing, hold back a piece of very white onion. As the onions cook they will turn translucent, as soon as this happens their done. KEEP the burner on Medium. Now you can add the meat.

THIRD: CHOPPING & COOKING THE GROUND MEAT. 
NOTE: When handling meat always wash your hands and keep meat and veggies separated.
NOTE: If you want you can add about a cup full of soup broth to this mixture. It keeps it from drying out and sticking to the pan and adds flavor.
Chop chop chop keep chopping up the meat with a wooden spoon.
When you start to notice that their is less pink meat and more cooked meat. Break up bigger pieces into smaller pieces until all the pink is gone. Now when you start to see little to no pink raw meat, place a fitting lid in the pan and turn down to low and let simmer.  As it simmers their will be a lot of liquid in the pan, that fine. If it seems dry add a ladle full of broth.   The meat can cooking like this for 10 to 15 minutes longer if you want to be safe. And don't worry the meat will not dry out, because of the liquid.

FOURTH. DRAINING THE COOKED MEAT.
Now after the meat is done cooking.  Very carefully push all the meat to one side of the pan.  Tilt the pan a little, so all the grease goes to one side. Scoop out the grease and put in a container. Let it cool then put in the freezer.  TIP:  Instead of tossing the fat the next time you cook meat, place the frozen meat juices in a pan and heat up and add to the new cooking meat.  Their is nothing wrong with this, it will just add more flavor.  This is in case you don't have soup broth.

Keep the meat warmed in the oven on low.

FIFTH:
Open the tomato sauce, tomato paste, and stewed tomatoes and add to your pot and turn the stove to medium add a few spices if you like.  I like to add cinnamon and basil. Let this cook until it start to bubble, then turn down to low and simmer for about 5 minutes, stir occasionally.
  
SIXTH: COOKING FRESH OR FROZEN SPINACH
Frozen:  For frozen I am going to have to recommend following the packaging instructions.
For Fresh:   10oz or a nice bundle.   Wash clean and dry.  Add a tablespoon or olive oil or butter to a pan.  Turn burner to Medium low. And cook until the spinach is wilted and darker in color. As soon as all the spinach is wilted it is done.

SEVENTH:  Grate your cheese, then mix the spinach, ricotta cheese and mozzarella together. 
Note: hold some Mozzarella Cheese back to sprinkle over the top of the shells and tomato sauce.

EIGHTH:  ASSEMBLING YOUR SHELLS
Now that every thing is cooked have everything placed in front of you so you can stuff the shells and place them in the glass dish.
1.Grab one of the shells. With a spoon scoop a tablespoon or more of meat into the shell.
2. Next scoop a tablespoon or more of Cheezy mixture on top of the meat and flatten it out.
3. As you fill each shell place the shell really close to each other until the whole glass dish is filled up.
4. If their is any left over shells or cheese mixture scatter on top of filled shells.
5.  Now pour tomato mixture over filled shells and sprinkle any extra grated cheese over the top.
Finally Set the oven to 375 and cook for 35 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

ENJOY