Stuffed Shells Florentine

Hello all!
Tonight I will share with you my interpretation of stuffed shells. I had an idea of what goes into them, but decided to wing it rather than follow a recipe and it was fantastic! I have a love for Italian food that is as wide as the ocean between here and Italy. Pasta, red sauce, white sauce, Italian sausage (minus the fennel, yuck!), Focaccia bread, more pasta, love it all. And this meal is fantastic for these days when its getting colder, when you feel like you need a hearty meal to warm you inside and out. The whole thing takes a bit over an hour, so its not something you can just "whip up," but it is absolutely worth it! This recipe also makes a whole lotta food, enough for 4 really hungry people or 6-7 people if you have a nice salad and bread on the side. While making this I did make a mistake and so I'll share my mistake with you so you don't make it too. When you make this dish, be sure to put the shells open side up. If you don't it won't taste bad, but the filling leaks out and it looks ugly. If you don't mind ugly food, you can put the shells in whatever way you want! Also, I took a chance and used fat free ricotta and it was perfect! So I was able to cut a bit of fat out of the recipe without sacrificing any of the taste, Matt even said he couldn't tell the base was fat free!

Stuffed Shells Florentine

Beautiful and delicious!

Ingredients:

1 box jumbo shells

2 lb of Ricotta (I used fat free and it was perfect!) 

1/2 c. Parmesan cheese

1.5 c. Italian cheese blend shredded cheese

1 clove of garlic (crushed)

2 tsp of basil

1 c. frozen spinach (thaw the 1 c. and smush it with a paper towel in a strainer to get rid of the excess water) 

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 jar of spaghetti sauce (I used our homemade, but anything will do!)

Canned sauce in a pan

Pre-heat oven to 350F

 

Bring water with a bit of salt to a boil and add noodles. Boil for 10 minutes and then drain. They will be a bit under cooked, don't worry!

 

Place the ricotta in a bowl

Plop!

Add the Garlic and Basil

I used garlic and basil cubes but fresh basil or dried basil would be lovely too

Add Parmesan and 1 c. of Italian cheese blend

Add Spinach

1 c. frozen spinach. I put this into the microwave for 1 minute to thaw

Spinach was placed in a sieve and and I used a paper towel to squish out the excess liquid

Squished spinach!

Add Salt and pepper and mix everything well

Salt & Pepper

All mixed together and lookin' good!

Spread pasta sauce onto the bottom of a pan

Add the mixture to a gallon bag (the poor man's piping bag) and snip the tip. Fill shells with cheese mixture

Place  shells filling side up in the pan

Tricked you! The square pan is the one I put the shells in upside down so I took a picture of this one

After you have filled up the pan, spoon more sauce over the shells and sprinkle with the last 1/2 c. of Italian blend cheese

Cover the pan with foil and bake at 350F for 20 minutes

Uncover and bake 5 more minutes until cheese has melted

Eat and Enjoy!!!!

This turned out very well and was not hard to make at all.  It was very filling and we have plenty of left overs for lunches next week. It also makes a pretty presentation when you make it for company so I'd say its a winner! Matt agreed it was very tasty and is looking forward to having it for lunch next week.
As I mentioned, the first pan I made I put the shells in upside down. here is how that came out...

Looks good

Used thinner sauce, but still looks good

Mmmm! Extra cheesy!

Whaaaaa???

Hmmm... Not what I was going for

UGLY! But still very tasty!
So no matter how you like your shells, pretty or ugly it still tasted great!
Hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we did, and as always...
Happy eating!