spinach and cheese stuffed pasta shells

Hey there :) Hope you all are enjoying your Wednesday. Thanks for hanging with me as I went through my little meltdown last night. You know how that goes. Well, I'm on a cooking spree, so I thought I'd continue with the recipe posting. I found this recipe on allrecipes.com. I was craving stuffed shells! Mmmm. And they have loads of spinach in them, so they must be totally healthy! They better be good, too, because I didn't really think about the fact that I had to stuff each individual shell...yeah...x32. Obviously my first time making stuffed shells. Anyhoo...I give you the recipe for Spinach and Cheese Stuffed Pasta Shells. Cheers!!! :)

Rated: Submitted By: KITKATY Photo By: ladybuggs5224 Prep Time: 30 Minutes Cook Time: 50 Hour Ready In: 1 Hour 20 Minutes Servings: 6

"Magnificent jumbo pasta shells stuffed to bursting with cheesy spinach filling."

Ingredients:

32 jumbo pasta shells 2 cups ricotta cheese 2 (10 ounce) packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons fennel seed 2 teaspoons dried basil 4 cloves garlic, minced salt and pepper to taste 3 1/2 cups spaghetti sauce

Directions:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2.	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.
3.	Squeeze spinach dry. Combine spinach, ricotta, 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, fennel, basil and garlic in a large mixing bowl. Season with salt and pepper; mix well.
4.	Spread 1/2 cup marinara sauce evenly over the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish.
5.	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.
6.	Cover the pan loosely with aluminum foil and bake in preheated oven until heated through; about 30 minutes.