Italian Stuffed Shells

These stuffed shells are delicious, filling, and not nearly as bad for you as many italian dishes.

Again, I have my lovely friend and neighbor, Beth, to thank for some fantastic pictures and an awesome time working together in the kitchen.

This particular recipe is vegetarian (made with spinach), but you could easily substitute the spinach for some italian sausage if you wanted!

Here's what you need (from Eat Live Run)...

12 oz. box of jumbo shells*
1 15 oz. container of ricotta cheese (we used part skim)
1 cup of italian blend grated cheese
3/4 cup of grated parmesan
12 oz. of cottage cheese (we used reduced fat)
1 tsp of salt
1/4 tsp of pepper
dash of nutmeg
Your favorite marinara (we used my homemade one)
Grated mozzarella (we used 2%)
10 oz. package of frozen spinach, defrosted and wrung out

*We had a ridiculously hard time finding shells - the only brand we found was Barilla, but maybe you'll have more luck!

Here's what you do...

1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. In a large bowl, combine ricotta, italian blend, parmesan, cottage cheese, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Mix well.

3. Meanwhile, boil some water, add your shells, drain and then allow to cool.
4. Spoon your cheese mixture into each shell and lay, seam side up, in a casserole dish. We made them pretty full!

5. Evenly pour marinara over top, then sprinkle the mozzarella cheese on top.

6. Bake for 30 minutes, serve, and enjoy!!

We had so much fun making these, and they tasted absolutely delicious. I only ate 4, and was completely full. Also, these would save well, so if you know you have a crazy week, definitely make these on a Sunday and you'll have plenty for the rest of the week.

Cheese is so good.