Spinach and Ricotta Stuffed Shells

This is a great dish you can get several meals out of.  I made the full recipe as listed below, and froze half of it.  The frozen dish was in the freezer for two months and thawed and cooked up wonderfully.

I have learned when making stuffed shells that all of the shells never come out cooked in one piece!  I usually lose about 1/3 of them.  So it's kind of hit and miss as to how many solid shells you'll get out of one box.  But the great thing about pasta, it won't bust your budget if you have to throw some out.

Also with this recipe, either make your favorite basic marinara sauce of, if you're in a hurry, use your favorite jarred pasta sauce.  Serve it with a Caesar salad and some good bread and you're set.

SPINACH and RICOTTA STUFFED SHELLS

2 cups marinara or pasta sauce
cooking spray
2 1/2 cups part-skim ricotta cheese
1/2 cup (2 oz) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 (10 oz) pkg frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained, squeezed dry
1 large egg yolk
1 garlic clove, minced
24 cooked (I ended up with about 16 good shells) jumbo pasta shells

Preheat oven to 350.

Spread 1/2 cup sauce over bottom of a 13x9" baking dish coated with cooking spray (I used two 8x8" dishes, one for the freezer)

Combine ricotta and next 8 ingredients (through garlic) in a large bowl, stirring well.  Spoon about 1 1/2 Tbsp filling into each pasta shell.  Arrange stuffed shells in prepared dish, spread with remaining 1 1/2 cups sauce.  Cover and bake at 350 for 30 minutes.  Let stand 5 minutes before serving.