Recipe: Spinach & Sausage Stuffed Shells

Whenever PDubbs or I has a big exam or project coming up, the other one is pretty much responsible for making sure the person studying actually eats. PDubbs spent all of Tuesday studying for his last undergrad final so it was my turn to fuel his brain. We had a rare tub of ricotta in the fridge (from birthday pancakes), beautiful ripe tomatoes and some jumbo shells just waiting to be stuffed - stuffed shells it was!

Having never made stuffed shells before, I did some quick searches on tastykitchen. After cross-referencing a couple of different recipes, I took a little from each one and came up with a game plan: make the sauce, make the filling, stuff the shells & bake! PDubbs threw together some simple and tasty garlicky green beans to round out a wonderful meal. I foresee this recipe being added to our usual dinner rotation.

Spinach & Sausage Stuffed Shells 

Adapted from Kristy & shellbell396

1 box jumbo shells (12 oz)

3/4 lb sausage, sliced or crumbled

1/2 medium onion, finely diced

9 oz fresh spinach

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 c part-skim ricotta cheese

2 c non-fat cottage cheese

1 c parmesan cheese, grated (plus more for topping)

1 c mozzarella cheese, grated (plus more for topping)

homemade tomato sauce (or 1 jar favorite tomato sauce)

salt & pepper to taste

1. Cook jumbo shells according to package. Once cooked, rinse under cool water and set aside.

2. In a large pan, brown sausage over medium heat. Reserving the oil, remove from pan and set aside.

3. To the pan, add onions and cook until fragrant. Move onions to outer edge of pan and add spinach to the center. When spinach is wilted, add garlic for 30 seconds. 

4. Transfer spinach mixture to a colander lined with paper towels. Squeeze out as much of the liquid as possible and set aside.
5. In a medium bowl, mix the cheeses, sausage and spinach mixture. Add salt and pepper to taste.
6. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Prepare a 9x13 casserole dish (or several glass baking dishes, if you don't have a casserole dish like us :) ) by spraying with cooking spray.
7. Assemble the shells! Coat the bottom of the dish(es) with a thin layer of tomato sauce. Place 2 tbsp of the cheese mixture in each shell and place in dish seam-side down. Pour the rest of the tomato sauce over the top of the shells, making sure it gets down between the shells.
8. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, uncover and sprinkle with parmesan and mozzarella cheese. Return to oven and bake uncovered for 10 minutes until cheese is bubbly. Serve and enjoy :)

Homemade Tomato Sauce

Adapted from Bev Cooks

3 tbsp olive oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 medium onion, finely diced

1 tsp paprika

2 tsp oregano

1 bay leaf

2 lb tomatoes, roughly diced

1/4 c red wine

salt and peper to taste

1. In a dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. When heated, add garlic and onions and cook until fragrant. Add paprika, oregano, bay leaf, tomatoes and wine. 

2. Bring mixture to a boil and simmer over medium-low heat for 20 minutes. 

3. Remove bay leaf. Using an immersion blender/blender/food processor, process sauce until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste.