Instead of doing your typical stuffed, cheese shells, I decided to go for pesto and chive shells. I also substituted ricotta cheese for cottage cheese. Healthy is the way to go!
Ingredients:
1 box of jumbo shells
1 cup of Mozzarella cheese, plus a handful
16 oz. of low fat cottage cheese
1 egg
2 cups of spinach, chopped
1/2 cup of pesto
3 cups of pasta sauce (I wanted to make the sauce from my penne a la Maggie recipe, but I was on a time constraint for tonight)
1/4 cup of chopped chive
1/4 cup of chopped parsley
1 tbsp of dried basil
Freshly cracked black pepper
Boil the box of jumbo shells until al dente. Be careful not to cook these for too long, or the shells will break when stuffing! I also poured in about 2 tbsp. of olive oil, and 2 tbsp. of salt to season the pasta, and to also prevent sticking.
In a mixing bowl, combine the pesto, egg, mozzarella, cottage cheese, spinach, basil and black pepper.
Mix well!
Chop up the chive and parsley.
Preheat the oven to 350 and pour a layer of pasta sauce in two baking pans.
When the shells have finished cooking, drain the noodles and then let it sit in cold water for a few minutes. This will stop the process of cooking, and will also cool the noodles down enough to handle them.
Stuff each shell with about 2 tbsp. of the filling (note: this is before baking).
Sprinkle with a handful of mozzarella and crumble the chive and parsley on top.
Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes, or until the sauce and cheese begin to sizzle.
Enjoy! Nom, nom, nom...
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