Stuffed Spinach and Sausage Shells

This is such a yummy dish and while it is simple it will take you about 20-30 minutes to get together before letting it bake away in the oven. SO this is a dish that you could prepare halfway in the morning if you have time and leave in the fridge until the evening then finish it off. Or even prepare on the weekend completely and put in the freezer for a quick night meal(for those of you who are super prepared and organized-I am jealous and give you my respect!), but you will need to add about 10-20 minutes more on cooking time.

For this meal again I am using leftover meat and ricotta cheese from my calzones last week. So in a way it is a creative resourcing of leftovers. Which I always think is a good thing. It's not like you want to sit there and make one huge dish to eat over and over again, so this is a nice way to break up the food and not waste.

For the pasta shells also make sure to not over make, you can always save them for later, pasta lasts a really long time so don't just make the whole box if you don't need to. Like for just Joe and myself I will probably make 12 shells (mine aren't HUGE they are medium sized). So we can eat some tonight and then he can take some to work tomorrow for lunch (he is a leftovers fan if you don't remember). Or if you are wanting to make a ton of food for a dinner party this is a great dish to make all of the shells for, but if this is the plan I would also plan to make half without sausage in case someone doesn't eat meat, doesn't like sausage or just is picky. I am actually tonight going to make half meatless because for me Lent has started and no meat on Fridays!

Shopping List:

1) Pasta shells

2) Ricotta cheese (about 10oz worth)

3) Mozzarella cheese (I actually bought pre-shredded this time because it was cheaper than buying a block)

4) Italian sausage

5) Onion

6) Egg

7) Your favorite pasta sauce

8) Canned or two fresh diced tomatoes

9) Frozen Spinach

10) Garlic

11) Olive oil

12) Parmesan cheese

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To Begin:

Boil your pasta shells, rinse in cold water and set aside once finished.

Then once the shells are done preheat your oven to 375.

In a skillet place a tablespoon on olive oil and set on medium heat. Dice about 1/4 cup of onion and mince two cloves of garlic. Place in pan and let cook until translucent. Add about a teaspoon of each rosemary and marjoram; then salt and pepper to taste. Cut up your sausage (make sure to remove casing if yours has it!) into small bites. Make about a heaping cups worth. Place in skillet and let brown.

While sausage is browning defrost your spinach and drain until there is no liquid left in it.

Take the skillet off the heat once the sausage is done. Get out a large mixing bowl. In it place 1 egg, about a 1 1/2-2 cups ricotta cheese, 1 teaspoon basil and thyme and sage. Mix.

Then to the mixture add 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, your spinach, and then your sausage and onions. Mix thoroughly.

Get out a large baking pan or if making less a smaller dish (I normally use a 10 by 12). Place a small layer of tomato sauce on the bottom of the pan.

Stuff the shells with the mixture; lining them up in the pan as you go. I REALLY stuff mine, no sissy stuffing for me.

On top place a thin layer of tomato sauce, your diced tomatoes and and sprinkling of mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese.

Cover with foil and cook for 30 minutes, then for the last 10 minutes remove foil to brown the cheese.

I hope you enjoy!