Recipe: Spinach stuffed shells

We call it "sneaky eats!" Does your child turn his or her nose up at the sight of anything green? See if you can stuff it (and hide it) in these jumbo shells.

Posted 12:05 a.m. Jul 15, 2011 — Updated 12:05 a.m. Jul 15, 2011

Susan Caldwell of Lil' Chef

We call it "sneaky eats!" Does your child turn his or her nose up at the sight of anything green? See if you can stuff it (and hide it) in these jumbo shells.

Ingredients

32 jumbo pasta shells

2 cups low fat ricotta cheese

2 (10 ounce) packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 teaspoons dried basil

4 cloves garlic, minced

salt and pepper to taste

3 1/2 cups spaghetti sauce

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Bring a large pot of salted water to boil, gently place pasta shells in boiling water; bring water back to boil. Cook until noodles are just tender; drain well.
Squeeze spinach dry. Combine spinach, ricotta, 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, basil and garlic in a large mixing bowl. Season with salt and pepper; mix well.
Spread 1/2 cup marinara sauce evenly over the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish.
Fill each pasta shell with the spinach cheese mixture. Arrange the shells, filling side up in the baking dish. Spoon remaining marinara sauce over the shells. Sprinkle remaining Parmesan cheese on top of the shells.
Cover the pan loosely with aluminum foil and bake in preheated oven until heated through; about 30 minutes.

Susan Caldwell is the mom of two and owner of Lil' Chef, a cooking studio for kids in north Raleigh. She offers recipes here on Go Ask Mom twice a month.

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