Time to Try: Everyday Italian-Giada DeLaurentiis

YUMMY! I love me some stuffed shells, but never quite had the guts to make them. But for this weeks Time to Try, I wanted to go out on a limb and try stuffed shells. I was flipping through channels and stumbled on a re-run of Everyday Italian and Giada was making just that! Shells with Crispy Pancetta and Spinach Well, since my boyfriend is the one who gets to enjoy all my meals I had to cut out the pancetta since he doesn't eat pork, yes I know... major sadness since pancetta is so delicious, as is ham. BUT you won't be seeing much of that in my kitchen anymore.

Anyways besides that minor setback I decided to go ahead and try the recipe anyways.

Before you start, preheat the oven to 375 and bring a large pot of water to a boil (I added salt and a splash of olive oil). After it starts to boil, add in your jumbo shells and allow them to cook for about 10 minutes. Now for the filling... since I skipped the pancetta, I just went ahead and added one box of frozen spinach (that was thawed and drained) to a large boil, added in a container whole milk ricotta (15oz) and a cup of grated asiago cheese (just eyeball it, too much cheese is never a bad thing!). Shake in some fresh black pepper and a dash of grated nutmeg. Mix well to combine, by this time your those shells should be ready to drain. Now comes the fun part... stuffing the shells! Before I began I got my baking pan ready (I used a glass 9x12) by putting some olive oil in it to grease it down. Now i stuffed the shells, each one used about a tablespoon of stuffing. I used my hands to stuff them but you could spoon it in also. Now that the shells were done I could make the sauce, the rich, creamy, cheesey sauce. To start off melt about a tablespoon of butter in a saucepan, add in the garlic (one clove, minced), saute it for about a minute. Add one cup of cream to the mixture and bring to simmer.
Turn the heat to low and add 2 cups of grated asiago cheese to the mixture, along with a dash of fresh black pepper, and 1/4 cup of fresh parsley (the Italian kind). Continue to stir until all of the cheese is melted and it's a creamy sauce.
Pour all of the sauce over the shells and top with grated asiago cheese. Bake until golden (about 25-28 minutes depending on your oven.
Serve immediately!
So yummy! I WILL most defiently will make this again! And the sauce ohh how delicious it is, I think that it would be great over some chicken on a bed of pasta.