Shells

I'm a pretty simplistic person. I like vanilla ice cream, neutral colors, and bare shelves. I also don't love extra complicated, super fancy-schmancy recipes. I like recipes that don't include odd, rare-used ingredients that I never keep in my pantry. I'll go out on a limb every once-in-awhile because I love a challenge, but I don't like to regularly venture into lands unknown. I'm going to work on this. The following recipe, however, does not fall into that category. It's a very simple recipe that I need to make more often. I love it, Shane loves it and I'm sure the kids would too, if I ever made it for them!

STUFFED SHELLS

16 large pasta shells
8-oz can tomato paste
16-oz can tomatoes, chopped
1 tsp dried oregano
1 stem fresh parsley, finely chopped
1 cup low-fat cottage cheese
1/2 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
2 tbsp parmesan cheese
1 egg
3 stems fresh parsley, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 375°. Cook pasta shells until al dente, about 10-12 minutes.

Add tomato sauce, chopped tomatoes, oregano, and 1 stem parsley to saucepan. Stir and bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer.

In a separate bowl, add cottage cheese, ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, egg and 2 stems parsley. Mix well.

Stuff cooked shells with cheese mixture. Arrange stuffed shells in 8"x8" baking pan. Pour sauce over shells. Bake 20 minutes until heated through.

Side note: I will be working on getting more slow cooker recipes on this blog, and they will be included on the "slow cooker Saturday" postings... enjoy! :)