4th July, Holidays, Prep Work

I kind of took a mini blogging holiday this weekend. Although it being the 4th of July, not many people from south of the will read this blog today. To all my US friends, I do hope you have a wonderful Independence Day with your families but also that you stop and think what it all means. Happy 4th y'all. A friend described this weekend as a North American holiday weekend. She was so right. Not that we did a lot.

There were lots of fireworks on both Friday and Saturday but, for some reason, on Friday, I was so tired I went to bed early and slept for about 10 hours, most unusual for me. Saturday even more fireworks although I didn't get the impression there were any private ones, only public. A friend told me that in the Niagara region private fireworks had been banned because of the lack of rain. Maybe the same applied here.

For us, the weekend was mostly spent running all our clothes through the dryer, well most of them, still have a few to do, and packing up ornaments etc. which the pest control people call nic nacs. Got news for them, that is NOT how it's spelled. Getting prepared for the exterminators is like getting prepared for a move really. I had to cancel a company who were coming in to help because we anticipate our pensions from England being heavily reduced due to the pound dropping in value. Then because I groused on Facebook, a friend saw it and offered to come in and help which is wonderful of her. There is still lots to be done.

I haven't made stuffed shells in a long time but these appealed to me.

Spinach and Ricotta Stuffed Shells

Recipe by: Fork Knife Swoon

Yield: 4 Servings

Ingredients

16 jumbo pasta shells (Cook a couple of extra shells to allow for a few breaking while the pasta cooks.)
1-1/2 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp fresh garlic, minced
4 cups (packed) fresh spinach leaves, roughly-chopped
12 oz skim-milk ricotta cheese
1 cup shredded skim-milk mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
1 large egg
1 tbsp fresh basil, finely chopped
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly-ground black pepper
1-1/4 cups marinara sauce

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Cook the pasta al dente, according to package directions. Drain and set aside.

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil begins to shimmer, add the garlic and cook until it begins to brown, about a minute or two. Add the spinach and cook, stirring occasionally, until the leaves begin to wilt but are still bright green, about 3 to 4 minutes. The spinach should be reduced by half. Remove from the heat and let cool.
In a mixing bowl, stir together the spinach, ricotta, mozzarella, Parmesan, egg, basil and salt and pepper until thoroughly combined. Pour 1/2 cup of the marinara sauce into the bottom of a shallow 8-inch by 8-inch baking dish. Stuff each pasta shell with a generous amount of the spinach and ricotta mixture, and place in the baking dish.

Cover with the remaining sauce and bake covered with aluminum foil for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking until the top begins to brown and the sauce begins the bubble, another 10-15 minutes. Serve warm with a dusting of Parmesan.









Have a great day