Spinach and Mushroom Stuffed Shells

This isn't the best picture, it's a picture of the leftovers.  But, I must say, these are just as good the next day.  I made these during the holidays for family and then again for friends this last weekend.  This recipe is a keeper!  I love the cheese filling with spinach, mushrooms, garlic and roasted red peppers. It's packed with flavors I love. The recipe makes two pans (about 50 shells) so it will feed a crowd.  You can always freeze a pan or cut the recipe in half.  

The recipe comes from Tina at Epicuricloud.com.  Check out her blog and recipes, she's one amazing cook!  Also, check out her recipe here as she has step by step instructions with beautiful pictures. 

Tina's recipe is vegetarian and I'm sure it's delicious as is but I made a few changes.  I added Italian Sausage to the marinara sauce,  I used 1/2 ricotta and 1/2 cottage cheese just because my Mom always used cottage cheese in her filling and that's how I like it and I also used more sauce and cheese but that's about it.  Here's the recipe with a few of my changes.  

Makes about 50 stuffed shells- 2 (9" x 13" x 2" inch baking dishes)  - about 12 servings                                                                                                     

INGREDIENTS:

1 (16-ounce) pkg. ground Italian sausage

This is my favorite brand of Italian Sausage

3 (24-ounce) jars marinara sauce, divided -( use one jar to put on         the bottom of the pans before you layer in the stuffed shells)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 sweet onion, chopped

8-ounces crimini (baby bella) mushrooms, diced

1 teaspoon garlic, minced

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 (12-ounce) jar roasted red peppers, drained & chopped

2 (10-ounce) boxes frozen chopped spinach, thawed & squeezed dry 

1 (16-ounce) container ricotta cheese

1 (16-ounce) container cottage cheese

3/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

2 egg

3 cups mozzarella, shredded & divided

1 1/2 (12-ounce) boxes jumbo shells pasta (You'll only need about 50 shells)

salt & water for boiling pasta

DIRECTIONS: 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.


Heat a large pot of salted water to boil for pasta.
In a large pot brown sausage.  Drain grease and add back to pot.  Add 2 jars of sauce and cook 10 minutes.  Set aside.

Add oil to large skillet over medium heat.  Add onion and sauté 3 minutes until softened. Add mushrooms, garlic, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper to pan.  Cook, stirring frequently, for about 8 minutes or until softened.  Add  roasted red peppers, spinach and stir until well combined.  Turn off heat and allow to cool a bit.

Cook your pasta 2 minutes less than package instructions as they will cook more in the oven.  

Drain your pasta and pour onto a greased rimmed baking sheet to cool.

In large bowl (also mixes well in stand mixer) combine ricotta, cottage cheese, Parmesan, eggs and 1 cup of the mozzarella.  Stir to mix.  Stir in the spinach mixture.

Pour 1/2 of a jar of marinara sauce in bottom of  each 13" x 9" x 2" baking dishes (2) and spread evenly.

Fill each shell with about 2-3 tablespoons filling.  Arrange them in each pan in a single layer.  

Spoon sauce (with Italian sausage) evenly over filled shells and sprinkle each pan with 1 cup cheese.

Cover dish with foil.  Bake covered for about 1 hour. 

NOTES:

To Freeze: assemble, wrap well and freeze. Thaw them in the refrigerator overnight before you bake them. 

TIramisu

Happy New Year!  I looked back and realized I didn't post one recipe in December.  It's not that I didn't do a lot of cooking and baking, I did, but during the holidays I stick to my tried and true recipes.  One recipe that has made it into that category is this tiramisu recipe.  If I had to pick a favorite dessert, tiramisu would be it.  I thought I would have to try a few recipes before I found a keeper but after serving this to my daughter (and she likes tiramisu as much as I do), she agreed with me, this one is perfect.

I've only made this twice and have looked forward to making it again soon.  Just so happened, I got a call yesterday about getting some friends together for dinner next weekend. There will be 5 couples and trying to get that many around a table at a restaurant and trying to visit with everyone, didn't sound like as much fun as it would be to just have them all over.  The funny thing was, as I was suggesting to have this dinner party, I was thinking, "Oh good, I have a reason to make tiramisu again!" and "Oh good, I will make those really good stuffed shells that I made over the holidays and forgot to take a picture for my blog and now I can!"  and "Oh good, I have some Limoncello in the freezer I've wanted to open!"  So right then and there, I planned an Italian themed dinner party.   The planning (for me) is always the hardest part and since I already had a plan and my friend did the inviting, and the guests are bringing the wine, this should be an easy, fun and delicious get-together!

Hopefully, I remember to take a photo of the Stuffed Shells this time so I can post them because they are a keeper too!

Ingredients

• 4 egg yolks
• 2 tablespoons whole milk
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 cups (16 oz.) mascarpone cheese
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 24 ladyfingers
• 1/2 cup cold espresso (I use instant espresso coffee - Medaglia D'oro)
• 
• 1/4 cup Kahlua
• 2 teaspoons cocoa powder
• 
  
• Directions
• 1. Fill a medium saucepan halfway with water and bring it to a boil over medium/high heat, then reduce the heat so that the water is simmering.

• 2. Whisk egg yolks, milk, and sugar together in a medium metal bowl, then place the bowl on top of the saucepan.

• 3. Whisk the mixture for 10 minutes until the mixture thickens.  The mixture becomes light yellow and thick.  (This does take a lot of arm muscles!)
• 

• 4. Remove the bowl from the heat and let it cool to room temperature.  Add  2 cups of mascarpone cheese and the vanilla and whisk until smooth.
• 

• 5. In a separate bowl, whip the cream with an electric mixer until thick.

• 6. Gently fold the whipped cream into the mascarpone mixture until it’s completely incorporated, but don’t over mix, you want to keep it light and fluffy.
•  

• 7. Combine the espresso and Kahlua in a shallow bowl, big enough to dip ladyfingers.

• 8. One-by-one, dip each ladyfinger in the espresso.  The ladyfinger will soak up the espresso like a sponge, so dip quickly.

• 9. Arrange 12 of the dipped ladyfingers side-by-side on the bottom of an 8 x 8-inch serving dish or baking pan. (You might have to break a few to get a single layer)
•  

• 10. Spoon about half of the cheese mixture over the ladyfingers, then add another layer of soaked ladyfingers on top of the cheese mixture.
• 

• 11. Spoon the remaining cheese mixture over the second layer of ladyfingers and spread it evenly.

• 12. Cover and chill for at least 6 hours.  I like to make the day before.  If by chance there are leftovers, no worries as it is still good days later!

• 13. Before serving put cocoa powder in a tight-mesh strainer and gently tap the side of the strainer to add an even dusting of cocoa powder over the top of the dessert.

• 14. Serves 9 large pieces but I like to cut it into 12 smaller pieces.

adapted from Top Secret Recipes - Olive Garden Tiramisu