Angelnina’s Cottage

Fresh Mozzarella~ Stuffed Shells and Paninis

April 14, 2009 at 3:19 pm | Posted in Flexitarian, Food, Italian food, Pasta Dishes, Recipes, Vegetarian, Weeknight Dinners, baking, cooking, photography | 2 Comments
Tags: baking, cheese, cooking, dinner, Flexitarian, Food, fresh mozzarella, Italian cooking, Italian food, Italian recipes, lunch, panini grill, panini sandwich, Pasta, recipe, Recipes, stuffed shells, Vegetarian

I have a million recipes to post.  I apologize, as I know my recipes are not all listed on the RECIPE page.  I need to get on it pronto.

I’ve been cooking and baking my tail off.  I ended up shopping at Costco–which is extremely dangerous for me.  I beeline it straight to the kitchenware, and the book section, where I proceed to load up the cart with my, “Only an idiot would pass up this deal!”, mentality.

After the old man loads up the cart with his Glucosamine/Chondroitin supplements, we head toward the cheese section.  HUGE mistake. For one thing, there are only 2 of us, and Costco sells packages that serve 800.  Apparently, that didn’t frighten us.

I loaded up on fresh mozzarella, and a number of other “must haves”.

After unloading our stuffed car trunk, we had to think about what to do with all the food.   After packing the freezer, the fridge, and the pantry, I set a plan into motion.

MOZZARELLA

ABOVE: Stuffed Shells

Stuffed

Ready to eat!

Stuffed Shells

box of pasta shells (12 oz)

3-4 cups of marinara or here-- or meat sauce

4 cups ricotta 2 cups shredded mozzarella

1/2 cup fresh grated parmesan (Plus a few Tbsp for topping)

2 eggs

Tbsp chopped parsley

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/8 tsp nutmeg

Follow package cooking instructions on box of pasta shells.  When al dente (or less), strain and prepare to stuff.

Mix together remaining ingredients–reserving a little mozzarella and parmesan for topping.

Pour and spread about 1 cup of marinara sauce on the bottom of the baking pan.

Stuff each shell with cheese mixture.

Layer shells in a baking dish.  Pour remaining marinara sauce over top, sprinkle on reserved cheeses.

35 minutes.  Pour yourself a glass of wine and enjoy!

AND

Click to see more…

Tired of the same old boring grilled cheese sandwich? (Who am kidding?  Does anybody get tired of a grilled cheese sandwich? I think not.)

I’ve heard several people say a panini grill is a waste of money.  They may be right.  I’m not a purist-I like gadgets and appliances that I will actually use.  I use this.   Sure you can use a skillet and a brick or flip it with a spatula, but it won’t be done in 3 minutes, and you just might end up with tomatoes on the side.  I love my panini grill.  I bought this one at Target about five years ago, and it still grills perfectly.

I used homemade farmer’s white bread, but the Artisan bread works good too.

A few slices of a ripe tomato, slices of fresh mozzarella, olive oil, salt, a little garlic, and a drizzling of balsamico.

Mmm. Mmm.  Seriously.

Other ideas for using up mozzarella?

PIZZA!  (Click here for my recipe). Need I say more?

By the way, I just pulled a loaf of the Artisan bread out of the oven.  I added the Herbs de Provence like a friend suggested, plus I added chopped garlic in olive oil–which I brushed all over the top before baking.  It looks and smells like Heaven in my house!

More food to come…