spring is coming on strong in columbus and it is so intoxicating. i no longer have my heat on which will for sure give me a break on my electric bill. i now spend evenings with a couple windows open and i really have to say, there really is no smell like the smell of spring.
on the occasion that i got the sound on my cable box fixed, gossip girl was back on, and what we thought an episode of niptuck, i had kayla and em over for dinner and wine. i thought of it as a recoop from the night before where an hour and a half of hot yoga had us questioning life.
if there is one thing i know, is that my friends and i are borderline obsessed with just about anything pesto. so i decided on pesto stuffed shells.
ingredients
1.) music - entire phoenix discography - shuffled.
2.) 15 oz. part skim ricotta cheese
3.) 1 fresh mozzarella ball
4.) 1/2 cup basil pesto
(i used classico - its the best premade pesto - hands down)
5.) 1 large egg
6.) about 2 large handfulls of spinach
7.) olive oil
8.) indefinet amount of pasta sauce
(i used my homemade marinara from the other day)
9.) a box of jumbo shells
first, take the mozzerela ball and pick it apart into tiny little peices.
then, combine ricotta cheese, basil pesto in a medium bowl.
finely chop spinach.
add to cheese/pesto mixture and add the large egg.
the egg helps keep te misture together while it bakes.
boil jumbo shells until firm to the bite. you dont want the shells to become too soft or they will rip when you try and stuff them with the cheese/pesto mixture.
once shells have cooled, spoon the cheese pesto mixture and place them closely together on a olive oil baking pan.
then just pour red sauce over the shells to your liking and let bake for 30 min at 350 degrees.
serve with a nice glass of red and good friends.
prefect spring wednesday evening
