STUFF...

have i mentioned my love affair with all red sauces? it's been a lifelong thing.

in college i lived for weeks at a time on boxes of spaghetti noodles and jars of prego.

when evan and i were newylweds our go-to dish was "noodles with red sauce." i proudly made it for dinner at least two times a week. sometimes we got fancy and heated the sauce instead of just pouring it at room temperature onto our noodles of choice.

when i was pregnant with adelaide i didn't even need noodles. i would just eat spoonfuls of sauce straight from the jar.

i know it might seem like an addiction but it's just a part of who i am.

a few months ago real simple featured a pasta recipe involving red sauce. of course i had to try it.

you don't even have to dream about red sauce to love this STUFF. we all loved it.

this afternoon the shells were STUFFED. tonight our bellies are STUFFED.

now it's time for you to STUFF this quick fix in your recipe collection.

STUFFED SHELLS

• 20 jumbo pasta shells
• 1 24 oz ounce jar marinara sauce
• 2 15 oz containers ricotta*
• 2 C baby spinach, chopped**
• 1/2 C grated Parmesan
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/2 t pepper
• 1/2 C grated mozzarella*
• *we used reduced fat cheeses & it still tasted great.
• **you can also chop any additional veggies and add them into this recipe.

1) set an oven rack to the highest position and heat oven to 400 degrees F.

2) cook the pasta.

to clarify that is steam.

i was NOT channeling my inner betty draper and smoking while cooking dinner.

3) drain and run under cold water until cool.

4) spread marinara sauce in the bottom of baking dish.

normally i'm a prego sauce kinda of girl but i was filling adventurous with the barilla.

5) chop the spinach.

i had already sliced my finger with a paper cutter earlier in the day, so i took the lazy, i mean safe, route and used the food chopper instead of a knife.

6) combine spinach, ricotta, parmesan, salt, and pepper in a bowl.

7) spoon the mixture into the shells and place them in the marinara sauce.

this was actually kinda fun. for a second i felt like a chef in an italian restaurant. then i saw the gerber puffs on the counter next to me and came back to the real world.

8) sprinkle with mozzarella.

9) bake 12 minutes or until the shells are heated through.

10) increase heat to broil for 2-5 minutes or until cheese begins to brown.

enjoy!