Wednesday, April 2, 2014

   The last few days have been So exciting, good times, great friends - so much going on! Therefore we must do something special...cocktails are special...aren't they? Well aren't they?? K, one drink down, one (or two or three) to go HA!! I've gotten several requests for a scrumptious baked pasta and since I see Italian sausage in the freezer, tonight is the night. Aaaahh...baked pasta, could you just scream!!! Yeah whatever, anyway this is what I've got:
      1. 12 large pasta shells cooked just a min or two under pkg recommended cooking time 
      2. I've got 1 1/2lbs of bulk mild Italian sausage but you can use a little less if you want,
          it doesn't really matter
      3. 1 15oz container ricotta cheese, DO NOT use cottage cheese...YUCK!
      4. 1 cup shredded parm cheese (can you tell I love parm cheese :)
      5. 2 garlic cloves  chopped
      6. 2 1/2 cups store bought pasta sc. (unless you have homemade...well fine then)
      7. 1 1/2 cups shred mozzarella cheese
      8. a tablespoon of torn basil would taste fab with this recipe but if you don't have it,
          no big whoop!  (parsley is good too)
      9. 1 egg (no shell required) hehe
    10. salt & pepper
                  Get it all together, pour a fresh one and let's go!!
     Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees (the hell you say :)  In a large non stick skillet, brown the sausage adding the chopped garlic when the sausage is half cooked. Drain the grease. In a mixing bowl, mix the ricotta, half of the parm cheese, half the mozz cheese, a little salt (not to much, the cheese is already salty) and a good amount of pepper. Crack the egg into the bowl and give it a mix until well combined. Add the sausage and garlic to the cheese mixture & mix some more. Take a baking dish, big enough for 12 pasta shells, pour about 1/4 cup of the sauce around the bottom of the dish. Get your shells, and using a teaspoon start filling them (pile it high) with your delicious cheesy jazz. Arrange the stuffed shells in the baking dish and pour the rest of the sauce over the shells. Cover it all up with the rest of the cheeses & finish with a sprinkle of basil. Cover and bake for about 20 mins. Uncover and bake for another 10 mins  until all the cheese is melty and bubbly. Damn, that sounds tantalizing!!! A fat glass of wine, some garlic bread, maybe some greens for ruffage and that's really all you need. So DERN TASTY...Now go get you some!!!

6 comments:

  1. Excellent & Great!!! Thank you yet again Miss Pattie. :-D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you young lady...hope you made this one!!! MMMM :)

      Delete
  2. Replies
    1. I appreciate that Miss Holly, thank you sooo much! Italian night - Yahoo!!!!

      Delete
  3. Invite me over I will bring a house warming present, my appetite! Lol

    ReplyDelete
  4. I could eat some right now...and it's 6:30 in the morning! Haven't had pasta in forever! Gonna have to make this after my next weigh in. I saw a recipe for baked manicotti...instead of the tube pasta they used the flat lasagna noodles that are ready cooked. Have you ever tried that? Made it so much easier to make cause you just put the filling on the noodle and roll it up.

    ReplyDelete