(stuffed pasta shells) with alfredo sauce

coperture farcite della pasta (stuffed pasta shells) with alfredo sauce

(from Elise’s kitchen)

2 tbsp olive oil
½ box of lasagna noodles

Filling
16 oz container of ricotta cheese
2 cups grated mozzarella or other Italian cheese
½ cup coarse ground parmesan cheese (like what’s in the containers)
½ tsp parsley dried or 1 tsp fresh
1½ tsp basil dried or 1 tbsp fresh
1 egg

Sauce
1 qt heavy whipping cream or evaporated milk
2 cups parmesan cheese
1 tsp fresh garlic
½ cup real butter
In a separate saucepan, bring water to a boil. Add pasta and cook till al dente. (about 12 minutes.)
Drain, and place back into pan adding olive oil.

Combine in a large bowl, ricotta cheese, and egg. Mix until creamy and smooth. Add spices, and additional cheeses. Mix again.

Oil a 9x9 baking pan or casserole dish with cooking spray or olive oil. On a plate, p;lace on e lasana noodle flat and add 2 tbsp of cheese mix. Roll up into a “jelly roll style” and place into pan. Continue with noodles and cheese mix until the pan is full.

Place into unheated oven and bake at 350 for 15 min.

In a saucepan, combine the sauce ingredients. Mix ingredients together and stir until smooth and creamy. Using a wire whisk helps to keep the lumps out.

When the pasta has cooked for 15 min, remove from oven, add the sauce to the top and cover with foil. Return to oven, and Bake an additional 15-20 minutes. Let cool and serve with warm garlic bread or foccacia bread.

Comfort Food Pasta w/ Sun Dried Tomatos

Tonight my hubby and I both wanted a good pasta with sun dried tomatoes so we grabbed what we had and experimented and were really happy with what we came up with. Mind you taking pictures of dinner after making it so I can blog it just might give me a complex and get me thinking I'm much better at cooking than I actually am!


1 Tbsp butter
3 cloves garlic
1/2 red onion diced
1/2 to 1 cup sun dried tomatoes packed in oil
2 Tbsp flour
1 c milk
3 Tbsp cream cheese
Salt to taste
8-10 oz pasta of choice

add sun dried Cook pasta in boiling water with a little oil. While noodles are cooking add butter, onion, and garlic in a skillet on med-low. Allow the onion to soften up slowly and when its pretty translucent add tomatoes. I chopped ours up a little bit and added the oil that was on the cutting board with them. Saute for another minute. Add flour to thicken up a little, stir, and pour in milk. With the temp on med-low still add the cream cheese and let melt and stir occasionally.

When pasta is done drain, and then toss with cream sauce.

Enjoy!