Take-out Tuesday, St. Patrick’s Stuffed Shells

the Painted Apron

4 years ago

So now that Valentine’s Day fun is over until next year,

Lets think about Mardi Gras and St. Patrick’s Day!

It’s fun to coordinate your food to the different holidays,

you know Red and Green Recipes for the December holidays,

Red and White Recipes for Valentine’s Day…

How about a Green and Gold Recipe for St. Patrick’s Day!

Pasta shells stuffed with butternut squash,

creamy spinach, and Italian sausage

This recipe isn’t hard, can be made ahead of time,

a delightful change from traditional pasta with marinara sauce

Roasted garlic gives it depth of flavor,

you definitely don’t want to skip this ingredient!

Put your garlic in the oven and let it roast at 400 for 1 hour

while you are getting everything else going

[or do this ahead and keep it in your fridge]

Buy prepared cubed butternut squash if you can,

cubing your own squash is pretty labor intensive

Put the squash cubes on a foil lined baking sheet

Toss it with olive oil and salt & pepper

roast it at 400 for 30-35 minutes

until it is soft and starting to brown

Once squash is cooked, puree it with an immersion blender

[or use a regular blender, mixer or food processor]

While squash and garlic are roasting,

brown the Italian sausage and drain on paper towels

Saute chopped onion in a scant amount of the sausage drippings

For the spinach ricotta mixture,

I used 1 box of frozen chopped spinach

and 1 box of Stouffer’s Creamed Spinach

and 1 cup of ricotta cheese

You can use 2 boxes of regular chopped spinach

and 2 cups ricotta cheese if you prefer

Combine spinach, ricotta, Parmesan

and salt & pepper

Add sauteed onions, roasted garlic and sausage to pureed squash

Combine with spinach mixture

Cook your shells a little less than al dente…

You want to undercook the shells

so they will hold their shape when you stuff them

They will finish cooking when your dish bakes

In a cooking oil sprayed 9″ x 13″baking dish,

drizzle a little 1/2 and 1/2 cream,about 1/8 -1/4 cup

Put your stuffed shells on top of the cream

in the bottom of the baking dish as you fill them

Sprinkle them liberally with finely grated Parmesan cheese

At this point you can cover the dish and refrigerate up to 24 hours

Bake loosely covered at 325 for 45-60 minutes

Melt butter in a small sauce pan and add sage leaves

Let it get nice and bubbly

add lemon juice and heat~

Pour hot sage sauce over cooked shells in baking dish before serving

This is pretty much a one dish meal,

of course some crusty bread is always great on the side~

Garnish with some more shaved Parmesan too if you’d like~

Sausage, Spinach and Butternut Squash Stuffed Shells with Sage Butter

Course Main Course

Cuisine American, Italian

Keyword fried sage, roasted garlic, sausage and vegetable pasta, spinach and butternut squash pasta, stuffed pasta shells, stuffed shells with garlic and sage

Servings 8

Ingredients

1 head fresh garlic
1 medium sweet onion diced
2 links Italian sausage
4-5 cups butternut squash cubes
1 box of Stouffer’s Creamed Spinach cooked*
1 box frozen chopped spinach cooked, drained, and squeeze dried
1 cup part skim ricotta
4 oz grated Parmesan cheese divided
olive oil
salt & pepper
1/4 cup 1/2 n 1/2 cream
1 box jumbo pasta shells
1 stick unsalted butter
10 fresh sage leaves
2 T fresh lemon juice

Instructions

Cut off the top of garlic head and place on a square of foil. Drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, wrap up and roast at 400 for 1 hour.
Put squash cubes on a foil lined baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and season. Place pan in oven with garlic and roast for 30-35 minutes.
Put squash cubes in a large bowl and puree with an immersion blender. Set aside.
Brown sausage and drain on paper towels.
Cook onion in scant amount of sausage drippings until translucent.
Add onion and sausage to squash puree.
Squeeze roasted garlic head into squash mixture.
Combine spinach, ricotta and 3 oz. Parmesan. Season with salt and pepper.
Add to squash mix and stir gently to combine.
Cook pasta shells until just starting to soften, put not completely done. Drain.
Spray a 9 x 13″ baking dish with cooking oil spray and drizzle just a little cream in bottom of pan, just to add a little moisture.
Stuff pasta shells with squash mix and place tightly in pan. Sprinkle remaining 1 oz. Parmesan over all. Cover with foil and refrigerate up to 24 hours.
Loosen foil before baking so dish is lightly covered and bake at 325 for 45-60 minutes until hot. Melt butter in a small sauce pan and add sage leaves. Cook 3-4 minutes and add lemon juice. Cook 1-2 minutes longer and then pour butter sauce over cooked pasta shells and then serve. Makes 8 servings