Stuffed Pasta Shells

While in Louisiana, Nicole was telling me about making stuffed pasta shells. I don’t know why I never think of that. Today I cooked about 20 jumbo pasta shells. I browned a pound of ground beef, added bell pepper, jalapeno pepper, onion and garlic. Then I added about 1 cup of Ricotta, then about 1/4 jar of homemade pasta sauce. I chopped some mozzarella into small squares and added it. Next, I spooned that into 16 of the pasta shells. In two small baking dishes, I poured a bit of the pasta sauce, added 8 of the shells to each dish, topped both dishes with the remainder of the sauce, added shredded mozzarella cheese.

I baked one just til the cheese melted. I stuck the other in the freezer. Once it’s frozen solid, I will remove it from the baking dish, vacuum seal it, label it and save it til I’m ready to cook it.

When it’s time to cook it, I will remove it from the freezer, remove it from the bag, stick it back into the baking dish it was frozen in so it fits perfectly, let it defrost and bake it . . easy peasy!

I need to remember to make these more often. Not my favorite but since it’s so quick and so easy and Vince likes it . . I can do it!