Ricotta And Spinach Stuffed Pasta Shells In A Homemade Cherry Tomato Marinara

Good old traditional stuffed shells, an old fashioned favorite. Usually it’s made with a jarred marina, but as our vegetable garden was so prolific this year, we were left with hundreds of cherry tomatoes frozen in bags in the freezer. So we are always looking for ways to use them. Feel free to use canned tomatoes or a prepared sauce, but this sauce is extra special, simmered with wine and fennel seeds. Make extra sauce if you wish, great on flatbread for homemade pizza or as a dipping sauce for fried mozzarella, or just over spaghetti.

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cooking Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

Cherry Tomato Marinara

1 onion, chopped

1 Tbs olive oil

6 cloves garlic, minced

3 - 12 oz boxes of fresh cherry tomatoes or 2 - 14 oz cans of tomatoes

1 cup red wine

1 cup water

½ tsp fennel seeds

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp dried basil

3 Tbs chopped parsley

1 tbs cane sugar

Stuffed Shells

1 - 12 ounce box large shell pasta

1 lg container of ricotta

1 cup frozen spinach, thawed and drained

1 tsp garlic salt

1 egg, stirred

2 cups shredded mozzarella

1 ½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese, divided

3 Tbs chopped parsley

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

2. Heat the olive oil in a large sized saucepan, add the chopped onion and saute until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the minced garlic, saute an additional 1 minute. Add all of the remaining ingredients for the marinara into the saucepan. Bring to a simmer. As the sauce cooks, use the back of a large spoon or a fork to smash down the cherry tomatoes. A potato masher works well also. Simmer until the sauce is reduced and a little thick, about 15 minutes.

3. While the sauce is simmering and reducing, prepare your stuffing. Combine all of the ingredients for the stuffing into a medium bowl. Reserve ½ cup Parmesan cheese to top the shells in the end. Stir well.

4. Bring water to a boil, cook your shells as per package directions. This will probably be about 9 minutes. Drain, cool, set aside.

5. Grease a 9 X 13 casserole pan. Pour 1 ½ cup of sauce into the bottom and distribute evenly.

6. Stuff each shell with the cheese mixture. Use about 1½-2 Tbs of cheese mixture into each shell.

7. Arrange the stuffed shells in the pan. Pour the rest of the sauce around the shells. Top with the reserved Parmesan cheese.

8. Bake 15- 20 minutes until warmed. Remove from oven. Sprinkle with parsley.

9. Serve