I loooooooove pasta. There I said it. Maybe I am going to Atkins hell, but I don’t care – good riddance I say.  Remember – no dieting! I love its slippery texture, I love the way it smells when it’s freshly boiled, and I love its versatility. It’s a complete staple food in my diet: I use it with traditional pasta sauce, topped with pesto, smothered in olive oil, whipped up in Asian stir-fry dishes, and yes, in my favorite, stuffed shells.

Normally I take all of my pasta in its whole grain form, and wouldn’t have it any other way. The slight nuttiness that whole grain pasta brings, along with its overabundance of B-vitamin goodness just warms my belly. Unfortunately, the large pasta shells used for stuffed shells do not exist in the whole grain form in my local grocery store (shame on you food industry – get with the whole grain goodness!). These enormous Italian shells (also known as lumache or snail shells) are typically made out of durum semolina wheat flour (*sniff sniff* for my whole grains).

Regardless, stuffed shells are still my favorite because:

1) They are absolutely delicious (duh – that’s my #1 food policy remember?!)

2) It’s pretty hard to mess them up; I mean where can you go wrong with pasta, cheese, spinach, more cheese, herbs, and even more cheese???

3) They are super filling! Three shells and I am stuffed!

I usually start this dinner out by just chucking cheese and herbs left and right around the kitchen, but I tried to quantify my ingredients this time for my snackers’ ease of cooking.  I also tend to make plenty of lower calorie improvisations along the way, to make this dish as friendly to your waistline as it is to your belly.

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Creamy Four-Cheese Stuffed Shells

Ingredients:

24 oz small curd cottage cheese

3/4 cup baby spinach

1 cup shredded mozzarella

1 cup of ricotta

¼ cup parmesan

2 egg whites

24 oz jar of pasta sauce (I used a garlic blend)

1, 12 ounce box of jumbo pasta shells

1 teaspoon parsley

1 teaspoon oregano

1 dash of garlic powder

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Boil pasta for 10-12 minutes, or until soft.
3. Spread the bottom of a 13×9 inch pan with a few spoonfuls of pasta sauce.
4. Mix the following ingredients in a large bowl: cottage cheese, spinach, ricotta, parmesan cheese, egg whites, parsley, oregano, and garlic powder.
5. Begin by taking each individual shell and placing a spoonful of the mixture inside, then laying the filled shells along the pan until the pan is full, or the noodles run out.
6. Pour remainder of pasta sauce over the shells.
7. Sprinkle lightly with parmesan cheese.
8. Bake for 25 minutes covered with foil.
9. Remove foil, and bake for another 10 minutes (total bake time of 35 minutes).
10. Remove from oven and enjoy!

Nutrition Information:

3 shells: 260 calories, 18 grams of protein, 7.4 grams of fat, 1.5 grams fiber, 27 grams of carbohydrate

What’s your favorite way to eat pasta?

Happy Snacking,

Lindsey

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