Stuffed Shells
Ingredients
- 1 lb. of large macaroni shells
- 2 cups Ricotta cheese – please don’t ruin it with cottage cheese!
- 1 cup parmesan or Romano cheese – grated
- ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley – the dried stuff doesn’t do it
- ½ cup chopped fresh basil – this you can substitute for 2 tsps. dried basil
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese – or more if you like a lot of cheese
Directions
Marinara sauce: If you want to save time and have EXCELLENT sauce get a couple of jars of RAO’s. Most grocery stores carry that brand now. It comes from a family recipe at Rao’s Italian Restaurant in the Bronx. The restaurant has only 10 tables and is considered THE hardest place to get a reservation. For real. It’s not even knowing someone. It’s knowing someone who owns a slot who would be willing to give it up for you!
Cook the pasta al dente according to the package. You don’t want them to get too mushy because you will be stuffing them and then baking them.
Drain and let them cool down a bit so you can handle them.
While the pasta is cooking – 10-12 minutes prepare the mixture.
Beat the eggs and mix ricotta and parmesan cheeses and herbs and blend. (The mozzarella goes on later.)
Fill each cooked shell with egg/cheese mix.
Preheat oven to 325.
Put a small layer of sauce on the bottom of a large baking dish.
Lay stuffed shells on top of the sauce. Its ok to overlap them if necessary.
Top the shells with more sauce, sprinkle with shredded mozzarella.
Bake for 20 minutes.
They’ll think you have an Italian chef in your kitchen!
Short Ribs Slow Cooker
This is SO easy!
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. short ribs
- 3 large peeled carrots cut into chunks
- 3 cloves garlic – sliced
- 1 onion sliced (can use leeks if you want)
- 1 8oz. package of mushrooms (optional)
- 2 tsps. Thyme
- 1 8oz. can of beef broth
- 2 cups red wine or alcohol free wine
Directions
Salt the ribs on both sides and brown in a little olive oil– 2 minutes on each side.
Remove from pan and set aside.
Sauté the onion and garlic in same pan used for browning the short ribs until wilted.
In crock pot add broth, thyme, wine, carrots, mushrooms if desired, then add the wilted onions and garlic and short ribs to the crock pot.
Set on low for 8 hours.
The meat will fall off the bone!
Creamy Cheesecake
Combine in blender:
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 lbs. cream cheese
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Pour blender mixture in graham cracker crust.
Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes. Let cool slightly before spreading topping on top.
Topping
- 1 cup sour cream
- 2 Tablespoons sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Spread topping on. Bake at 475 degrees for 5 minutes. Refrigerate.
If desired, top with cherries (or 1 can of cherry pie filling) before serving.