Stuffed Shells

I found jumbo pasta shells at our local farmers market this past weekend. They sparked all sorts of cooking ideas in my head. I had already been thinking about making some sort of pasta stuffed with meat dish so I picked them up.

When I got home I googled stuffed shells recipes until I found a good one on cooks.com. The recipe calls for ground beef, but I substituted it with turkey. I got rid of the onions and substituted egg beaters for a real egg. I also realized while making it I didn't have any nutmeg so I used seasoning salt and italian seasoning. I bet nutmeg would have given it a good taste, I'm sad I didn't have any. The meat mixture was basically a mix you would use to make meatballs.

I made two pans full of the shells. For Jeff, I covered the bottom with tomato sauce, put the stuffed shells in, and then covered it again with tomato sauce and Parmesan chesee. For me, I put a little bit of water in the bottom of the pan and put little bits of butter through out it. Then I cooked them for about 30 minutes and served. Very yummy.

The next time I try this I will cook them in the oven for maybe ten minutes less. The pasta was a little crunchy on the edges, but otherwise fine. Jeff also enjoyed making his own stuffing with my leftover shells. He put tomato sauce and shredded cheese in them. I may also try to make a lasagna with similar ingredients. Oh the possibilities ;)