Ingredients
- 1 package (12oz) jumbo shells
- 1/2 lb Italian sweet sausage
- 1 jar (32oz) spaghetti sauce
- 2 packages (10 oz of each) frozen leaf spinach, thawed
- 2 eggs
- 1 lb ricotta cheese
- 1/2 lb mozzarella cheese, shredded or diced
- 1 tsp onion salt
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/8 tsp nutmeg
- 2 T parmesan cheese
Preparation
Step 1
1. Cook shells, following package directions, until they are Al Dente- just cooked (don't overcook, they may break when you stuff them). Drain in a colander, rinse with cold water and set aside
2. Split the sausage casings with a sharp knife and peel them off. Crumble meat into a large skillet;brown over medium heat, stirring frequently, Drain off fat.
3. Add spaghetti sauce to the browned meat in a skillet. Cover pan, reduce heat to low and simmer about 15 minutes.
4. While sausage/spaghetti sauce mixture is simmering, place thawed spinach in a strainer and press out excess moisture by hand. Remove and chop coarsely. In a large bowl, beat eggs slightly. Add the chopped spinach, ricotta, mozzarella cheese, onion salt, garlic powder and nutmeg. Mix until ingredients are blended.
5. Preheat oven to 350. Pour about 1/2 C of the sausage/sauce mixture into the bottom of a three-quart casserole dish. Stuff each shell with 2 rounded tsps of the spinach-cheese filling. Arrange shells in a single layer in the casserole dish as you work. Tuck in any remaining broken shells.
6. Pout remaining sauce mixture over shells. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Serves 6
Can be made-ahead. just assemble casserole and tightly cover with foil and refrigerate. Bake according to recipe directions above. They can also be frozen. They can then go straight into the oven as long as dish is oven proof. Bake frozen shells at 425 for 40 minutes, remove foil and bake 20 minutes more.