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Stuffed Shells!
Nov. 26th, 2004 05:25 pmYum! Just put the stuffed shells in the oven... the legendary, cheesy goodness! Some have argued with me that you can't take a store-bought jar of sauce and achieve excellence with it, but those who have sampled even my everyday-pasta are amazed!
Top Sekrit: Chop some garlic and put it in the bottom of the sauce pan along with some olive oil; add light spices (ground black pepper, red pepper, chipotle powder, oregano, basil, thyme, onion bits) and turn heat on medium. Stir almost constantly for a few minutes. Slowly add sauce (I generally use Prego, although Ragu with Sweet Italian Sausage and Something Else works well for the baked dishes) and stir it in. Add the rest of the spices, some grated Parmesan cheese and a tablespoon or three of honey. Cook on medium until it splatters a bit.
For the baked dishes (manicotti, shells, lasagne): Make sure pasta is Al Undone-teh. Use ricotta straight-up - no eggses or other manipulations! Also use Extra Sharp Wisconsin Cheddar and Monterey Jack in a 2-1 ratio. I use thin columns of cheese about 1" long x a few mm in the other directions.
Other than that, the instructions on most boxes of lasagna or large shells will suffice. Lotsa work to assemble (especially shells or manicotti), but essentially pretty easy to make.
Top Sekrit: Chop some garlic and put it in the bottom of the sauce pan along with some olive oil; add light spices (ground black pepper, red pepper, chipotle powder, oregano, basil, thyme, onion bits) and turn heat on medium. Stir almost constantly for a few minutes. Slowly add sauce (I generally use Prego, although Ragu with Sweet Italian Sausage and Something Else works well for the baked dishes) and stir it in. Add the rest of the spices, some grated Parmesan cheese and a tablespoon or three of honey. Cook on medium until it splatters a bit.
For the baked dishes (manicotti, shells, lasagne): Make sure pasta is Al Undone-teh. Use ricotta straight-up - no eggses or other manipulations! Also use Extra Sharp Wisconsin Cheddar and Monterey Jack in a 2-1 ratio. I use thin columns of cheese about 1" long x a few mm in the other directions.
Other than that, the instructions on most boxes of lasagna or large shells will suffice. Lotsa work to assemble (especially shells or manicotti), but essentially pretty easy to make.
