Italian Stuffed Shells

Jumbo shells are so versatile because you can do so many different mixtures to stuff them with. You can do Mexican, Indian, Italian, etc. I personally prefer them stuffed for Italian cuisine. This recipe is my take on Italian stuffed shells. I like to add some veggies and spices to the ricotta filling so that the filling adds a little flavor and crunch to the dish. I've been using Raos Homemade sauce for these, but feel free to use any other tomato based sauce you'd prefer. This is one of those dishes that is still delicious as leftovers. I usually make a little extra so that we can have it for lunch a day or two after. You can also pre-make the dish ahead of time and bake it later.

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Italian Stuffed Shells

Ingredients:

- 12-14 jumbo shells boiled (I used Barilla brand)

- 1 jar of 24 oz of Raos Homemade Arrabbiata sauce

- 10 oz container of ricotta cheese

- 8-10 oz of shredded mozzarella cheese

- 1 medium zucchini diced

- 1/2 bell pepper diced

- 1/3 cup of sliced green onions and more for topping

- 1/4 cup of frozen corn

- 1/4 cup of chopped cilantro

- 1 tbsp of minced garlic for sauce

- 1/2 tbsp of minced garlic for the stuffing

- 1/2 tbsp of red pepper flakes for sauce

- 1/4 of tsp of ghost pepper paste (optional) for sauce.

- 1 tsp red pepper flakes for stuffing

- Salt and pepper to taste

- 1 tbsp of EVOO for the sauce

- 1 tbsp of EVOO for the stuffing

Directions

1 - Heat EVOO in a non-stick pot over medium heat and sauté peppers, zucchini, and corn for about 2 minutes. Add a pinch of salt, pepper.

2 - Add garlic and red pepper flakes, mix and remove from heat and let the mixture cool down fully.

3 - Combine the veggie mixture with ricotta cheese, half of the mozzarella cheese, green onions and cilantro, and set aside.

4 - Heat the EVOO in a sauce pan and throw in red pepper flakes and garlic and let that sizzle for about 15 seconds and then add the jar of the Raos sauce and cook for about 5 minutes until sauce is bubbly.

5 - Take a glass baking tray and cover the bottom of the tray with the sauce.

6 - Stuff the shells with the ricotta mixture and arrange them all in the tray.

7 - Top off the shells with the rest of the sauce; then sprinkle mozzarella cheese and green onions on top.

8 - Cover the tray with foil and bake at 375 degrees for about 25-30 minutes. Take the foil off and top it with more green onions.

9 - Serve warm with garlic bread. Enjoy!