Cassie’s Ruminations

Beef and Zucchini Stuffed Shells

This is a tasty Italian dish inspired by my mom’s spaghetti sauce. Feel free to use your own marinara if you have some on hand. I’m just out and need to make another batch to freeze! The Barilla sauce is really pretty decent, though, and works well for a shortcut. If your household is lacking in the dairy issues that mine has, you may want to sprinkle the top with some shredded mozzarella too.

I served this with garlic bread. I used 4 cloves of garlic instead of 2 and sprinkled some dried parsley and oregano on the bread too for a bit of green.

Beef and Zucchini Stuffed Shells
Makes 6 servings

1 lb ground beef
2 cloves garlic, pressed
¼ tsp black pepper
2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
1/3 cup bread crumbs
1½ lb zucchini, grated
1 jar spaghetti sauce (Barilla Tomato Basil recommended)
1 package (12 oz) jumbo pasta shells (Barilla recommended)

Brown the ground beef in a skillet with the seasonings. Add the zucchini and stir to combine. Cover and cook for 3-4 minutes or until the zucchini is wilting down. Remove from heat, stir in bread crumbs, and allow the mixture to cool.

Boil the pasta shells to slightly firmer than al dente, about 12 minutes. Drain the shells completely, rinse with cool water to remove starch that might make the shells stick together, and set aside to cool slightly.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Pour a little of the pasta sauce into the bottom of a deep 9 inch by 13 inch baking dish, enough to coat the bottom.

Stuff 18 to 20 of the best shells (several of them will be broken, so just discard those or reserve them to eat as leftovers later) with the meat mixture and place in the baking dish. Pour sauce over the shells and cover the pan tightly with foil. Bake for 30 minutes. Serve hot with garlic bread.