Saturday, January 9, 2010

Cheese Stuffed Shells and Garlic Cheese Toast

Tonight's dinner was a tried and true favorite... a comfort food if you will. I'm not a huge "Italian" food fan; I prefer white sauce to red, and not so much oregano, rosemary, and thyme... but this dish has my heart and soul... I LOVE cheese... and lots of it, and this dish gives me just that... 


To start off you need the following items: 
1 box jumbo shells - cooked according to package directions (more on that later)
4 8oz cans spaghetti sauce (any kind -- we're going to dress it up, so the milder the better)
3 lbs. ground beef
2 cloves garlic chopped
5 green onions chopped - separate the onion from the top green part (the green is saved for tomorrow night's stuffed mushrooms)
8 oz mozzarella cheese
Parmesan cheese
2 lb ricotta cheese
2 eggs 


Brown and drain ground beef. Add 1 tbs butter to center of pan and melt, toss onion and chopped garlic in and stir to brown a little. Mix onion and garlic into ground beef and cook for about 4 minutes to meld the flavor. Add salt and pepper to taste and about 2 tbs Italian seasoning (your choice here). 



Add the sauce and stir well. 


Turn heat to simmer and allow to cook while you are preparing the shells. 




Drain and dry shells. 





Gently beat eggs and add ricotta and mozzarella to the mix.





For a little added zing, I toss a handful of the onion tops I reserved in with this mixture. You'll want this to hold together fairly well. 






Spoon a thin layer of sauce in bottom of baking dish - 13x9 is best and probably won't hold all the shells, but that's OK -- because you're going to run out of cheese first... 



Next grab up one of those shells, scoop a spoonful of the cheese mixture and stuff it in... put the shells in a single layer (usually about 4-5 in a row) in your baking dish.



Repeat until you run out of cheese or room... 
Look at them there, all snug together... just waiting to be my dinner! 
If needed use an additional pan.When all shells are stuffed, spoon the remaining sauce over the shells.  



Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese to lightly cover. 



Cover pan with aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes.

Goodbye my loves... I will see you soon!
Now, while the shells are cooking you can start on the garlic toast. 


You'll need the following: 
1 loaf French-bread, sliced
1 stick butter
Garlic powder
Chopped chives


Soften butter in microwave for 30 seconds, add garlic powder to taste and chopped chives. 




Mix well until mixture forms a nice pasty consistency.





Dip one side of each bread slice in butter mixture to coat and place butter side up on baking sheet. 



Sprinkle a little mozzarella on each slide of toast. 








Oh,look... my shells are ready... nice timing! 


Bake at 350 for about 5 minutes or until cheese starts to melt. Turn on the broiler and watch for the cheese to bubble and bread to brown, lightly. 



Remove and serve immediately. 





So... there you have it -- simple, good, and a real family pleaser! 


From the kitchen of a mom, with lots of love!
Magimom

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