Spinach Stuffed Shells

For years, I've been making spinach lasagna.  I can't even remember where I got the recipe, but it's not an original creation of mine.

I planned on making it recently, until I realized I didn't have any lasagna noodles.  I did have large shells, though.  So I played around with the ingredients to my lasagna recipe to make a filling for stuffing shells.

I like spicy foods so I used 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes.  If you don't like spicy foods, I recommend using 1/4 teaspoon.  The only change I recommend making to my filling is using 1 cup of mozzarella cheese instead of 3/4 cup.  I think that the added cheese would have helped the filling stay together better when the shells are cut.  Otherwise, they were perfect. 

If you don't like cottage cheese, you can use ricotta instead.  I don't like ricotta, so I always use cottage cheese in its place.

Ingredients:

10 oz. frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained well

3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1/4 cup plus 2 T. shredded Parmesan cheese

1 1/2 cups cottage cheese (I used 1% milkfat)

1/4 cup egg substitute

1/4 t. black pepper

1/4 to 1/2 t. red pepper flakes

32 oz. spaghetti sauce (I used Mid's meatless variety)

24 large pasta shells, cooked according to package

        instructions

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 9x13 inch baking dish with cooking spray.

Combine all the ingredients except the 2 tablespoons Parmesan, pasta shells and spaghetti sauce in a large bowl to create the filling.  Cover the bottom of the prepared baking dish with a 1/2-inch layer of spaghetti sauce.  Stuff the shells with the filling, placing them face down in the spaghetti sauce as you go.

Once you have all the shells in the baking dish, cover them with the rest of the spaghetti sauce.  Top with remaining 2 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese.  Bake for 35 minutes or until sauce is bubbling and shells are heated through.

Yields: 4-6 servings

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