Homemade Stuff Shells

Ingredients

½ pound jumbo pasta shells

2 tablespoon olive oil

1 onion – finely chopped

use very generously salt and pepper

3 cloves garlic – minced

1 pound ground beef

2 tablespoon italian herbs

2 cups spaghetti sauce

2 cups ricotta – or cottage cheese

1 cup mozzarella – shredded plus more for topping

½ cup parmesan cheese – grated plus more for topping

1 egg – beaten

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 F (175 C).

Cook the pasta in boiling water for about 1 minute less than the package suggests. Drain and run cool water over the shells. (to keep the shells from sticking together, I added about 1 tablespoon olive oil to the water, and stirred them gently often.)

While the pasta is cooking, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, generously add salt and pepper and sauté until softened – about 4 – 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute or two.

Add the beef and cook until browned, breaking it up as it cooks. When the beef is almost cooked through, sprinkle the Italian herbs over it and stir in about 1 cup of the spaghetti sauce, then remove from heat.

In a small bowl, combine the ricotta, mozzarella, parmesan and egg – mix together well, then mix into the beef mixture.

Grease a 9″ x13″ baking dish and spread the remaining sauce evenly in the bottom. Spoon the filling carefully into each shell and arrange them on the sauce, then sprinkle with additional mozzarella and parmesan cheese.

Bake for about 25 – 30 minutes, or until heated through.

[mashshare]