Stuffed Jumbo Shells

If you're like me you love anything smothered with cheese and sauce. So here is the recipe for something I threw together the other night that turned out absolutely amazing.

Ingredients:

Sauce:

• 1 26oz can of crushed tomatoes (I prefer San Marzanos tomatoes but any crushed tomato will work)
• 1 12oz can of tomato paste.
• 4 cloves of crushed garlic
• 3 tablespoons of olive oil
• ½ of a medium sized white onion (optional)
• 1 diced green bell pepper (optional)
• 2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley
• 1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
• 2 tablespoons oregano
• Salt and Pepper

Entrée:

• 1 Box of any Jumbo shells (approx. 40)
• 1 15oz container of any whole milk Ricotta
• 2 cups of shredded mozzarella, halved.
• 1 Egg
• 2 medium sized boneless, skinless chicken breasts cooked and shredded
• Salt and Pepper

Instructions:

Sauce:

1. In a large sauce pan, heat olive oil over medium high.
2. Sauté onion and garlic until translucent. Be careful not to burn garlic.
3. Add crushed tomatoes and tomato paste, mix until the paste becomes completely incorporated into mixture.
4. Add diced onion and bell pepperand stir (optional).
5. Bring sauce to a fast simmer and add red pepper flakes and dried oregano.
6. Reduce heat to low and cover, let simmer for a minimum of two hours, stirring occasionally.
7. Taste and add more seasoning to flavor.

Dish:

1. Preheat an oven to 350°F.
2. Cook jumbo pasta shells as directed on box, separate them and set aside to cool. Make sure you do NOT cook these past al dente. They will continue to cook in the oven.
3. While pasta cooks mix ricotta, egg, chicken and 1 cup of the mozzarella in a mixing bowl. Add salt and pepper as desired. Reminder: Do not taste mixture as raw egg isn’t always safe for consumption.
4. Refrigerate mixture until shells are cool enough to handle by hand.
5. Cover a 9x11 baking dish with aluminium foil (for easy clean up) and spread some of your homemade sauce along the bottom, just enough to coat it so the shells don’t stick!
6. Using a tablespoon fill the shells with the mixture, lining them in the baking dish.
7. Once all the mixture is gone spoon your sauce over the shells, about two tablespoons per shell.
8. Sprinkle remaining mozzarella over the shells..
9. Tightly cover with aluminum foil and cook for 40 minutes.
10. Remove from oven and carefully remove foil (there may be steam!) then enjoy!
    

Note: Any extra pasta shells can be refrigerated for use another day OR you can encase an already filled shell with your not used shells (kinda like a ravioli!)

Cooked ground beef or Italian sausage can be used in place of the chicken. Any leftover sauce can be portioned into freezer safe bags and frozen after it has been cooled. To use again just place the bag under hot running water.