Hello. Hi there. How’s it goin’? It’s nice to see you here. It’s nice to know I can move across the country, start a new job, move again, unpack, unpack some more, and then get my internets hooked up and see your smiling faces. Well, not really see you, but you get my drift, yes?
I’m glad you’re here, and I’m glad I’m here.
I’m also glad to have my kitchen back. As of Sunday night, all boxes are unpacked. Now, this doesn’t mean everything is in its place, but great progress has been made on the home front. I will say that it’s hard to move to a smaller place, but I think we’ll manage just fine here.
I think we’ll eat a lot of good dinners together, and I think that, once we procure another dining room table (and chairs of course. chairs are good here.), we’ll eat a lot of dinners with other people too.
But for now, it’s just the two of us (we can make it if we try; just the two of us). That works out nicely when I make a dish I don’t enjoy sharing, which happens often. Of course, stuffed shells aren’t exactly a novelty, but considering I had an unopened box of jumbo shells in my pantry that made it’s way here all the way from Chicago, I felt it worthy of a housebreaking meal.
Also, my favorite mother-and-father-in-law mailed me some extra-tasty fine Italian cheeses for my birthday, and I took this as an opportunity to use some of them. Now, you don’t have to go all out and put your best cheese on this dish, but you could if you wanted. In our house, cheese has to get used quickly, or else it risks getting eaten by a certain cheese-lovin’ boy.
But why eat cheese alone with you can eat it with more cheese, the best tomatoes ever, and pasta? No brainer.
Swiss Chard Stuffed Shells
serves 4
time commitment: 1 hour (30 minutes active)
printable version
ingredients
- 20 jumbo shells (~1/2 box)
- 1 15-oz container part-skim ricotta cheese
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1/2 bunch swiss chard, chopped
- salt and pepper
- 1 28-oz can San Marzano tomato puree
- 1/3 c Asiago cheese, shredded
- 1/3 c Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, shredded
instructions
preheat oven to 350 F. bring a large pot of water to boil. cook pasta shells according to package directions, being careful not to overcook them. drain and rinse with cold water; pat dry.
meanwhile, make filling. in a medium bowl, combine ricotta cheese through chard. season with salt and pepper.
taking one shell at a time, stuff with filling until overflowing. place in small baking dish (you want them to all be touching one another, not spread out). pour tomato puree atop stuffed shells and top with the two cheeses. bake, covered with foil, for 30 minutes. uncover, and bake another 5 minutes.