Tuesday, March 10, 2009

My name is Katie and I have an addiction...

Yes I have an addiction, I think I have mentioned it before. I am a sucker for pasta, especially pastas drenched in sauce and piled high with cheeses. I don't know where this comes from, I am half German, half Irish, and I am pretty sure there is no Italian in there anywhere.

Anyway, like I said I love my pasta, I could eat it just about every day of the week in a different form each night. I have made this recipe before using different ingredients and tonight I thought I would keep it relatively simple by using ingredients that I have on hand. You are more than welcome to use your own homemade sauce, but tonight I am making Sandra Lee proud and doing it the Semi-Homemade way by using a jar of my favorite store bought version.

Katie's Stuffed Shells~

Ingredients:
1 box. jumbo shells
1 jar. pasta sauce
1 lb. ground beef
1 md. container ricotta cheese
1 C. parmesan cheese
4 C. mozzarella cheese, shredded
2 tsp. garlic powder
2 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. black pepper

Directions:
1.) In a large pot bring to a boil your shells. Do not cook all the way through as they will finish cooking in the oven.
2.) In a separate skillet brown ground beef, drain off any excess grease. Add garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and black pepper. Mix and turn off heat. Allow to cool for 5 minutes.
3.) To the cooled meat mixture, add your ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, and 1 cup of mozzarella cheese. Mix gently and then add 1/2 cup of your sauce.
4.)Begin my putting a good tablespoon or so of your meat mixture to each shell.
5.) In a 9x13 baking pan take a little of your sauce and cover the bottom. Layer stuffed shells. Top with remaining sauce and remainder of shredded cheese.
6.) Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit covered for 45 minutes, for the last ten or so minutes bake uncovered so that topping can brown slightly.