Simple Stuffed Shells

Can you believe it? I made a real dinner two nights in a row! Now, tonight's wasn't nearly as exciting or delicious as last night's but it was dinner.

In cleaning out and reorganizing the kitchen cabinets the other day, I found that we still had half a box of large shell pasta... not something we use often. (Pasta in general, that is; and especially large shells.) Since we also had a jar of sauce and a block of gruyere and all the seasonings we could ever need, I asked Birk to pick up some ricotta on his way home so I could make this!

Ingredients:
15-20 large pasta shells
1/2 jar of pasta sauce (ours was five-cheese Bertolli... not my favorite)
shredded Gruyere
ricotta cheese
Penzey's Brady Street cheese sprinkle (to taste)
Penzey's shallot-pepper seasoning (to taste)
frozen peas
butter
salt
granulated garlic

Equipment:
pot large enough for your pasta
colander
pan large enough to hold your pasta
microwave (for the peas)
stove
oven

Instructions:
Boil your pasta shells according to the package. (About 15 minutes.) Preheat the oven to 375F. Strain them and put them in a greased pan. Put a spoonful of ricotta inside each shell. Pour sauce over shells. Sprinkle with the cheese sprinkle and seasoning; cover with shredded Gruyere. Bake, uncovered, in oven for 10-15 minutes (until cheese is melted). Meanwhile, put peas in a bowl with butter and salt, and microwave about 90 seconds until cooked. Sprinkle with garlic. Enjoy!

Yields: 4 servings (but I only made 2 servings of peas... leftover peas are unnecessary when you can just make more while warming up your leftover shells)

Total time: about 30 minutes

Cleanup rating: 1/5
I lined the pan with foil so I don't even have to clean that up. Otherwise, you just have to rinse your colander and pasta pot.

Difficulty rating: 2/10
A beginner cook can make this easily. The hardest thing is knowing when your pasta is done (mine was a little underdone because I am an impatient cook).

Flavor rating: 5/10
To be fair, I wasn't very hungry because I had a late lunch (of leftovers from yesterday's Sausage & Veggie Bake). But also, I'm not a fan of the Bertolli sauce. I've yet to find a jar sauce I love... looks like I'll just have to start making my own sauce... look for that in the future!