Day 2- Stuffed Shells with Meatballs

Tuesday- Baked shells with meatballs

It was my turn today to look at our menu and be like…this is too much work for a Tuesday.  But I convinced myself if I got home early, I could have it ready for Mario by the time he got home. Of course I forgot he had a board meeting and it didn’t matter to hurry up and cook.  Oh well, dinner was still good even if he had to reheat it!

 

Stuffed shells is really not so complicated.  Its a process type meal that must be done in stages.

 

Stuffed Shells

1 box jumbo shells

Spinach

1 container ricotta

2 cloves garlic

1 jar spaghetti sauce

Parmesan cheese

 

Stage 1: Set pot of water to boil with lid on.

Stage 2: Heat skillet with extra virgen olive oil.  Chop 2 cloves of garlic and place into skillet.  Once his is heated, add spinach.  It wilts so you need to add more than you think you need.  Once it is all cooked, remove from heat.

Stage 3: Once water is boiling, add salt to water.  It needs to taste like the ocean.  Add shells. Cook as directed.  My box said 15 minutes.  Drain.

Stage 4: Stir your entire container of ricotta with your cooked spinach.  Take out baking dish. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Ladle enough sauce to thinly cover bottom of baking dish.  You don’t want to burn the bottom of your shells.  Add 1 teaspoonful of ricotta mix per shell.  Place open side up in baking dish.  Once finished with all your shells, pour remaining sauce over shells.  Add parmesan to top of shells.  Bake for 20 minutes or until cheese is bubbly.

 

Yummy every time.  No wonder Mario always asks for this 🙂

 

The meatballs were another story.  When I began cooking, I tried to chop my garlic using my new food processor.  Apparently the processor is dead already.  Boo.  So I began thinking of how I was going to grind my breadcrumbs, which didn’t exist bc I didn’t have any.  I looked for my regular backup, which is oats.  None of those either.  So I looked at a new backup, Fiber One cereal.  I know it sounds CRAZY, but I use it to make chicken fingers and Mario loves those so I figured it just might work.  Also I went to my blender to grind my cereal.  It did the job with about 70% accuracy.  Not too hot, but not terrible.

 

Fiberlicious Meatballs

1lb. ground beef

1/4 box of Fiber 1 cereal, ground finely

1/4 cup of ketchup

2 TBS soy sauce

1 egg

1 TBS Italian seasoning

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grind cereal.  Next add all other ingredients except beef to blender or food processer.  Place beef into bowl and cover with mixture.  Blend until evenly distributed with your hands.  Form into balls and place on baking sheet.  Bake for 20 minutes.

 

Mario devoured them!  He really liked these and that is wonderful.  Sometimes when I forget the recipe (normally due to laziness), it is hit and miss with the flavor.  And since I no longer sample meat dishes, this happens a bit more frequently I hate to admit.

 

This dinner serves 4 easily with 3-4 shells per person.  There was a ton of meatballs left.  Extra went into freezer to be used for a rainy day.