Stuffed Shells

This is my mom's recipe which was relayed over the phone the other day. When she told me she was making these for dinner, I had a flashback to her good cooking and had to satisfy my craving. I ran out to the store and grabbed a box of pasta shells and some ground beef. She usually makes it with half ground beef and half italian / pork sausage, but this time I only used beef. You can also use half beef, half ground pork. Turned out SO yummy!


Stuffed Shells

1 box of large pasta shells
1 - 1 1/2 lb. lean ground beef
salt and pepper
1 slice bread
milk
fresh basil
dried parsley
about a 1/4 c shredded Parmesan cheese
1 (26.5 oz.) can Hunt's or Dole pasta sauce
Italian seasoned dry bread crumbs
1-2 cloves garlic, diced fine
2 eggs

Cook shells according to package directions and rinse with cool water.

Brown ground beef (and sausage if you're halving it) and garlic in cast iron skillet until cooked through. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. Place slice of bread in milk to soak through, but not dripping wet. Tear apart completely and combine with beef. Add in fresh basil and parsley to taste. Add Parmesan and eggs and mix until combined. Sprinkle enough bread crumbs to soak up a bit of the moisture, but not leaving it dry.

Ball up meat mixture and stuff into cooked shells. Spread a thin layer of tomato sauce in a glass baking dish coated with non-stick spray. Lay shells in dish, spooning a bit of the remaining tomato sauce on top of each shell.

Bake in a 350 oven about 1/2 hour or until hot and bubbly.