Stuffed Shells

Every time I'm pregnant, I crave food from my childhood. Growing up, there were always stuffed shells on the table for dinner!!! I decided to get creative with the filling and ended up loving it so much!!

The recipe made enough for an entire baking dish worth of stuffed shells, so this one is family-sized unlike my other recipes which are mostly for 2-3 people!

What you need:

• 1 box jumbo shell pasta
• 15 oz ricotta cheese
• 1 cup made up of equal parts freshly grated asiago, parmesan and mozz cheese (Italian blend)
• 1 large or two small balls of burrata cheese 
• 4 minced garlic cloves or 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• Italian herbs of choice - I did a handful of fresh chopped basil leaves, and pinches (1/2 tsp) dried oregano, parsley and rosemary
• 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
• 2 cups roughly chopped spinach
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 2 cups pasta sauce, preferably marinara (homemade or jarred)
• More cheese and fresh basil for topping

What to do:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the shells according to packaging instructions. (I like to cook mine al dente since they will bake and cook a bit longer in the oven after they are stuffed!
• Mix the cheeses, garlic, herbs, lemon and spinach in a bowl until fully combined and season the mixture with a little salt and pepper.
• Pour a cup of sauce into your baking dish and spread around evenly.
• Stuff each cooked shell with the filling mixture and place each one into the sauced baking dish
• Pour the additional cup of pasta sauce as evenly has you can over the top of the shells and then sprinkle with more of the cheese - I did parmesan and mozzarella. 
• Bake for 20 minutes. I like to cover with foil but if you're the person who likes when the top of things get a little crispy while baking, leave it uncovered!! 
• Once it's done baking I top off with a little fresh cracked black pepper and fresh basil leaves.