Stuffed shells: what else need be said?

Got your attention, didn't it, ragazzi?  Annalena has made a bet with herself.   She thinks that this recipe will soon become the second most read recipe in the blog. Braciole is number one, by a factor of well over 20.  Annalena still wonders about that.    But this one will get up there. She'll let you know.

Stuffed shells are the kind of thing that make people eyes open.  When  Annalena told people she was making them, there was an almost audible sound close to culinary orgasm  (you all know what that sound is, she is sure).  And know what?  It's pretty much justified.  Stuffed shells look like they are a lot of work, and they really aren't, if you do it the Annalena way.  Let's just walk through this, and you will be the hero (or heroine, or diva or goddess or what have you), of all of those who are lucky enough to get your food.

Annalena presumes that you have a quart of homemade tomato sauce available, which you should.  If you don't know how to make it, do a search within this blog of tomato and butter, and you'll find her 45 minute sauce, courtesy of Marcella Hazan.  You'll get two quarts.  Use the rest for eggplant parmagiana, or meatballs, or anything else - like braciole.

You will also need a large bunch of spinach, leaves torn from the branches and stems (you can probably get away with a package of thawed spinach, but remember why you're here).  Steam that,  and then put it in a bowl to cool down.  You're going to do a bit of that here.

Next, you need one pound of large shell pasta.  Get the biggest ones you can find.  Take that pot in which you just cooked your spinach, and fill it with water.  Bring it to a boil, add a good spoonful of salt, and toss in the shells.  While they are cooking, get a colander ready.  After about 8-10 minutes (when the shells are pliable), dump them out and drain them well.  Let them cool.  Seriously, LET THEM COOL.  You're going to be handling these babies, and Annalena does not want  you to hurt yourself.

Make a filling, by first combining a pound of good quality ricotta (and remember:  good quality ricotta does not come in a plastic tube with a name that ends in "O"), and a pound of mozzarella, chopped into small pieces.  You can do this with smoked or plain mozzarella, and please use buffala. There is no reason to use the really good pure burrata or anything like that here.  You want firmness.  Annalena adds salt and pepper to this, and nothing more, except the spinach.  You might choose to do more, but for the first time, Annalena urges you to try it in  its pure form.

Now, get that spinach, which should be cool, and squeeze out the water. Squeeze HARD. Then chop it up.  Mix it in with your cheeses.

Get a large, earthenware or glass baking dish - at leasat 9x13, maybe bigger.  Pour about a third of the sauce on the bottom.  Turn on your oven, to 375.    Now, if the shells are cool, take them, one at a time, and put a generous tablespoon or so of filling into them.  You have enough filling for somewhere between 24-28 of the shells.  You probably had more than this in the box, so if you like, you can fill these with something else, or you can augment your filling, or like Annalena, you can just stand there and eat the things out of hand.  Yes, it's like a scene from the song "I'm Living in Shame," but Annalena is what she is.

Put the shells in the baking dish, filled side up.  Then,  pour the rest of the sauce over them.  Cover this with foil, and bake for 45 minutes.  This will finish up cooking the pasta if it's underdone, and the flavors will mingle.

If you are going to eat them right away (not the best idea, but still a good one), get some good parmesan, and grate and sprinkle away.  If you are going to let them sit for a day (the preferred way to do this), then let them cool, covered with the foil, and reheat them at 375 until they're hot.  That's about 30 minutes. THEN put on the parmesan.

You may be surprised how filling these are, but you may also be surprised how many of them you eat, notwithstanding how filling they are.

Yes, these are not for every day, but you can certainly make them once in a while.  They don't freeze well because of the cheese, but they will keep in your fridge for a week or so.  You can portion them out, and have em as you like.

Sunday dinner anyone?  C'mon, take down this one, the braciole recipe, and make some people happy.  Including yourself.  You deserve it.