Stuffed Shells (with love!!)

My boyfriend loves eating in, which is fine with me because I love being in the kitchen.  Last weekend he was craving for some "Stuffed Shells" and I've never made them before (nor had them either) so it was challenge I accepted! ;) 

After searching for a "good" recipe, I finally found one that I liked from http://blogchef.net.  I took his Stuffed Shell recipe and modified it (like always).  

Ingredients:

• 1.5 lbs of ground beef (we usually use lean)
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced 
• 1 bag of Italian blend cheese
• 2 cups of skim ricotta cheese
• 1 cup of bread crumbs
• 1 jar (26 oz) of spaghetti sauce of your choice
• 8 oz of tomato sauce
• salt and pepper to taste 
• jumbo pasta shells (one box)
• 1/4 cup of red wine (this is optional)

Directions:

Brown the meat with onion and garlic.  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and just to save time... go ahead and cook the pasta according to the directions on the box/bag. 

 

After the meat and browned, drain the excess juices and let it cool for a good 5 minutes.  

In a mixing bowl, combine the meat, ricotta cheese, half the bag of Italian cheese,  bread crumbs, and salt and pepper for taste. 

 Carefully spoon the mixture into the shells.  Prior to putting the shells (or even putting the meat mixture in the shells), combine the spaghetti sauce with the tomato sauce.  Spread some of the sauce (do not use it all!) on the bottom of the baking dish.  Then carefully place and arrange the stuffed shells on the baking dish. 

After your shells are neatly placed, mixed the red wine with the remainder of the tomato and spaghetti sauce and cover the stuffed shells with the sauce.  Sprinkle the rest of the Italian blend cheese on top of the sauce.  Bake for 20-25 minutes.  

 Your stuffed shells should come out looking something like this! Bon appetit!