Stuffed Shells with *Better* Spinach Pesto

I was slaving away at work one day last week, when Matt asked: What do you want to do for dinner?
and I had been saving this recipe for when I was finally feeling ambitious enough to WANT to cook.  I said: How about stuffed shells? And he was game
(remember how much we love pasta here)

So, luckily it was my turn to float at work (which I don't ever call lucky, but today it was), and I went over to our outpatient clinic.  I stayed there all day and when my last patient left at 6:15, I was able to leave!  (As opposed to 7:30 or later, which is the typical time)

I got home, got my grocery list off of the counter (which is something I need to do better about remembering [especially with Turkey day coming up!!!]  )  and we headed off to the store.

As a side note: Yuengling Beer has recently come to Ohio, and in the Barrick house, we are thrilled! No more smuggling it in from the south.  Whoo!!  (So needless to say we stocked up!)

And as I got home I started cooking (which was about 730, [I still would've been at work if I hadn't been floated,  Lucky!, you see])

Before we start: I have a confession:  I didn't do a very good job at taking pictures.  :-(  First I got side tracked by the multitasking, then while I was stuffing the shells, I had a mad coughing fit (I have bronchitis, with a side of strep throat and a sinus infection to top it off.  How lame is that?!)

First things first:  Put a pot of water on, add some salt and olive oil (To flavor the shells, and to keep them from sticking) and put about 12 jumbo shells in to cook.  (I have a confession:  I don't know a good way to cook these. This is the first time I have cooked shells, and I couldn't get them to cook without them sticking to the bottom of the pan.  And that just tore the shells up.  I did get a little distracted by multi-tasking, and probably could have stirred them some more, but, they are not as easy as regular pasta to cook.)

Next: I put a splash of Olive Oil in a medium skilled and saute'd 1/4 C chopped onion, 2 cloves minced garlic, and 1/2 tsp dried basil, over medium heat, until the onion was tender (I've learned, from The Food Network, that it is important to season every layer of the dish, in order to give it a deep flavor.  I usually just do salt/pepper when I'm cooking italian, but you could do sage, thyme, rosemary, basil [if there wasn't always in there]  Experiment!!! )

After the onion is tender add 1/2 cup of chopped spinach.  Mix it up and let it cook until the spinach is wilted.

Blend this spinach mixture in with 3/4 C ricotta cheese (I used low-fat, and you can't tell. :-D), then stir in 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg, 1/4 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper ( I don't like nutmeg, so I left that out.)

Stuff the spinach mixture into the cooked shells, place in baking pan and bake at 350, covered, until hot all the way through, about 20 minutes.

While this is in the oven, I made some spinach pesto to spoon over the top of it, and I found a better recipe for it!

Spinach Pesto:
1 C loosely packed spinach
1 Tbsp dried basil (Or 3 Tbsp fresh)
1 clove garlic
1 Tbsp parmesan cheese
2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp lemon juice

Throw all of these into the food processor and combine until it is the consistency you want ( I actually added a skosh more olive oil than recommended, as I wanted it to be smoother.)  And Voila!  Better spinach pesto!

Once the shells are out of the oven and on the plate, spoon some of the pesto over the top and serve!

Matt suggested adding some cheese on the top, and I would agree with that assessment.

Matt also said these were delicious and he wants me to make them again. Haha.

We have reached an arrangement.  When I cook something new, he has to tell me, not only if he likes it, but also if he would like me to make it again!

When we first started dating, and I made some meals, he said: Oh yea, I like it!  So Then a month or so later, I would make it again, and he wouldn't eat any of it. When I asked him, he said: I liked it, but I wouldn't eat it again, so from that time forward, I always make a point to ask: Do you want me to make it again?  and he makes a point of trying to beat me to the punch and tell me: Yes/No I do/don't want you to make it again.


For a printable version of the recipe click HERE!!!