I'm Stuffed.

This is one of my favorite comfort dishes. Stuffed shells are so easy to make and are so filling. They also freeze really well, so if you make a big batch of these, you can tuck them away for another night. This is my mom's recipe, but I adapted it a bit to use some of the stuff I had around the kitchen. We used a spicy pork sausage, so it has a bit of a bite. I also decided to throw in some leftover pesto sauce from pizza night. It's also nice to add some fresh chopped parsley if you have it on hand, I didn't so I left it out. For my vegetarians out there, this recipe can easily be made without the sausage as well. One more note, I thought I would be economical and buy the really cheap pasta shells from Fry's. Don't do this. I opened the box and about half of the shells were already cracked, and after cooking them, another quarter were stuck together and ripped apart. Just buy the good quality shells to make sure they are fit for stuffing.

Spinach Cheese Stuffed Shells
adapted from Mama A

• 1 box jumbo shells
• 1 package pork sausage (mild or hot)
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 small container of ricotta cheese
• 1 small box of chopped frozen spinach, defrosted and drained
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 egg
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 3 Tbsp pesto sauce
• 1 bottle spaghetti sauce (any flavor)

Prepare the pasta shells and set aside. In a pan cook the pork sausage and add the onions. Drain the fat and cool a little. Mix the spinach, ricotta, egg, parmesan, nutmeg, and pesto. Mix in the meat and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a casserole dish, spread some spaghetti sauce on the bottom. Stuff the shells with the filling and arrange in the casserole dish. Pour the rest of the sauce on top and sprinkle some more parmesan cheese. Place in oven to cook for about 30 minutes.