You can make a meal as simple or as complicated as you want to. Sometimes it is very satisfying for me to make everything from scratch and place upon the table an entire day’s worth of effort. Sometimes I just want to get dinner on the table.
Stuffed shells is a good example of how a dish can go either way. You can make the pasta, the sauce, grind and season your own meat, and toast your own breadcrumbs (I haven’t yet tackled making cheese). You can also go to the store and buy it all. Both ways will be tasty. Let’s assume that you do NOT have all day…
What you need: A very large skillet, a very large pot of water and colander, a 13 x 9 inch pan (glass if you have it), and various utensils. 1 box of jumbo pasta shells, 1 lb Italian sausage (sweet or hot depending on how you like it, get turkey to watch the fat), 1 lb round beef (round or sirloin – again, the fat), an egg, about 1/2 cup of seasoned breadcrumbs, a glob of tomato paste, garlic, salt, pepper, and a tiny bit of olive oil (or whatever oil). A jar of your favorite pasta sauce (about 26 ounces), and, if you like cheese, an 8 oz bag (or more if you want) of shredded mozzarella or some Italian blend.
Step 1 – the filling. Heat a little bit of olive oil in the skillet. If the sausage is in casings, slit open the casing and plop the sausage into the pan. Add the ground beef. Break up the meat while cooking it over medium heat until no longer pink and well mixed. Cook it gently, you don’t want tough beef in your filling. Once it’s cooked, turn off the heat and add garlic, salt, and pepper. Taste for seasoning. Add the tomato paste – maybe 2 tablespoons. Let it cool for a few minutes while you beat the egg and find the breadcrumbs – which are probably stuffed way in the back of the pantry because no one uses them but you. IF you do not have breadcrumbs, take a slice or two of bread, toast it lightly (just to remove the moisture), and pulverize it in the food processor or blender. Stir in the beaten egg until it’s well incorporated. Add about 1/2 cup of breadcrumbs and stir. Ultimately you want to be able to pack this into shells, so it can’t be too dry or too wet. Err on the side of wet, since the shells will continue to absorb moisture. Once it’s all set, let it sit while you cook the pasta.
Step 2 – the pasta shells. You need a huge pot of water to cook the shells, salted just enough so that you can taste the salt. Boil the shells like the package says, then drain and rinse in cool water. Some will have not survived; such is life. Just because it’s ripped doesn't meant it can’t be filled.
Step 3 – putting it all together. Preheat your oven to 350. Pour about 1/2 cup of sauce into the bottom of the 13 x 9 dish. This keeps the shells from sticking. Cradle a shell in one hand. Take a large serving spoon and fill the shell, then give it a gentle squeeze to shape. Place the filled shell in the pan face up. Keep going until you’ve used up everything. Cover everything with the remaining sauce.
Step 4 – Put it in the oven. No, we did not put on the cheese yet. Bake for 15 minutes (if you are not going with the cheese, 20-25 minutes). We’re basically re-warming, allowing the flavors to mingle, and letting the sauce ease into the nooks and crannies. Remove the pan from the oven, and crank the heat to 400. Put on as much cheese as you feel necessary. Put back into the oven for about 15 minutes or until the cheese is golden brown and bubbly.
Serve this with a salad and/or green vegetable.
Brian and I like these as leftovers. For breakfast. Cold. But that’s just us.