Nurturing my inner... unlikely motivator for running

I eat, therefore I run.  One of my life mottos.  (I seem to have many to choose from.)

My friend Megan asked if we could get together for dinner one Wednesday night and drink the wine I was suckered into buying, while she was present, from a man with a fabulous Australian accent.  So I figured it was a great time to make something from the master "I need to cook this one day" list.  Something I knew she'd enjoy.

Stuffed Shells

2 lbs part skim ricotta
2 cups shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
8-10 leaves of fresh basil, chopped
6 meatballs, crumbled
1 quart, or two jars, of sauce

Dear ladies from the homeland of my genetics.  Stop.  I need a recipe.  Stop.  An age old favorite.  Stop.  That people will cry out for in the streets.  Stop.  And a cell phone would be nice too.  Stop.  So I don't have to use this fake telegraph bit to get some laughs.  Stop.  (Please stop!)  I'm forever in your debt oh short, round, feisty women of old.  Full stop.

This is one of those dishes that seem like it's impossible to make and you can only get it out at a place ending in o's or i's or io's.  But I assure you, it's easier than you think!  You could just use the recipe on the back of the box.  But really now.  Where's the fun in that.  Doctor it up, I say.  (I just said it.  That's a new one.)

Pack your bags, road trip!!  Mattie's Deli, I salute you.  This is the last of what's left from my summer vacation in CT.  And it will go out with a bang.

The ultimate BSE.

My grocery store is limited when it comes to Italian pasta brands.  There, I said it.  And I'm not afraid of you monstrously large, multi-label, squash the little guy conglomerates.  (Shaking an angry fist at the sky ala Charleton Heston type fury.)  So, I went with the one of maybe two brands I did find.

You'll do.

To prepare the shells, I parboiled them for 8 minutes.  Because the box told me to.  (No, not audibly.  Well, not today, anyway.)  I drained them, ran them under a little cold water to cool and put them aside.  But you can't do it for long or they'll start to stick together.



Some are always going to get broken, so go
ahead and make the entire box.


I never thought I'd use store brand ricotta, but seeing as there was only one other choice and it was about a dollar or more expensive, I figured, well, no time like the present to see if it's any good.  Which was a little dicey, since I was having a friend over and really didn't want a colossal failure on my hands after all this work.  Oh well, take a leap!  (Seeing as it's no risk for you, go ahead and cheer me on.)

How different could generic ricotta possibly
be anyway? Guess we'll find out in a little
over an hour.

The entire container and salt goes into a bowl and to that I added the expected: dried oregano.

Nothing shocking.

Time to add some big flavor.

Old and new contributions.

Of course, the shells wouldn't be complete without Parmesan.



The sharp flavor of Parmesan adds a totally
different dimension to the mild ricotta.


And eggs are needed as a binding agent.

A couple will do ya in a batch of this size.

Egg is what helps the cheese to bake up fluffy inside the shell.  If it's good enough to work for cakes, then why not this.

There is a difference between store bought and
farm fresh eggs.  The yolks are a deeper yellow
in these eggs right from the farmer.

You can scramble them up before you put them in.  Lazybones me, I didn't feel like it.  So in they went, whole.

It all gets mixed together later, so it
doesn't really matter.

Enter generic cheese test number two.  On sale.  Compare and contrast.

I'm trying to be wise with my finances,
especially as I've been cooking more.
Saving here means I can spend on
something else fresh.

Doesn't look any different than the fancy name brand stuff to me.

Yep, I'm the same. Just a less fancy label.

Mozzarella goes in the bowl.  The reason I don't use fresh mozzarella for this is that the moisture content is a lot higher and I'm going for something more dense.

Looks so good, I don't know how I can be
patient through the rest of this write up.

The previous ingredients shouldn't surprise you.  But, I added a couple other items.  One is a new second generation American addition: fresh basil.  The basil is no big shocker as it's a common ingredient in Italian food, I just haven't seen it added to the filling. Until today!

From the grocery store. Yeah, yeah, I know.
But the farmers' market is closed until May.

Chop it up any which way.  Go ahead, use your knife with reckless abandon.  (Well, safely with a tad of abandon.)

Doesn't have to be small, just not super large
so it ends up the overwhelming flavor.

At last, some bright color.  Bellissimo!

Wonderful smell engaged.

The other key ingredient, is an old Italian secret: nutmeg.  Right, you had no idea!  (I had an idea though, because both my Nana and my mother made them with it.  It's still exciting though.)

Nutmeg is a strong flavor, so you don't want
to over do it. Use sparingly.

Give it a final swirl and your mixture is complete!

Right, so, not very amazing yet.  But hang on!

Your shells should be slightly cooled now and able to handle without burning your hands.  This should not involve pain.  You're not at the gym.  (Though, you should be, in preparation for the hearty portion you'll want to consume later.)  Hold the shell open.  Take a teaspoon and scoop up some of the mixture.  Fill up the shell so it can't fully close.

Green flecks of fresh herbs, to me, make my
shells extra wonderful.

Place in a baking dish.  Like a stoneware lasagna pan.

Some in the smaller pan.

I made plenty, so I needed more than one dish.

More in the bigger pan!

Cover with some of the sauce.  I like to leave a bit of the shells peeking through.

Peek-a-boo.

I didn't even get to finish thawing this sauce, but used it as soon as I could chop it up with a fork.  Looks like a sauce flavored snow cone.

It will all melt in the oven. Frozen
or otherwise.

Sadly, I didn't have enough Mattie's delicious sauce to go around for all the shells.  Which was also my motivation for using two pans, so I could keep some of it "pure."  I thought I had more, but I only had a pint instead of a quart, so I used what I had of the Mattie's for the smaller pan and searched for what I had in the cupboard for the bigger one.  Then I remembered this sauce that a friend told me about.  It's no Mattie's, please don't even try to compare, but it is tasty and would be just fine.

From Harris Teeter. A simple tomato basil blend.
Don't use a flavor that is overpowering.

You might not have caught it from above, but yes, I crumbled up half a dozen meatballs, you can make your own, and sprinkle them on top of the shells before you add the sauce.

A step back, I had put the meatballs down
before the sauce. Full disclosure.

Sprinkle the top with a little more Parmesan and the dish is complete.  I choose not to add more shredded cheese to the top because there is already plenty inside the shell.  Do not overcheese!  No telling what that kind of insanity that can ignite.

I felt like a food genius on this half homemade,
half deli bought dish.

And now for some more gratuitous photos.  What a dish!  I'm fairly certain I could print up a heck of a calendar with these.

Picture perfect shot.

Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for one hour.  And now I'll tell you a little story.



Well wrapped for the journey.


Against my better judgement, but something I clearly disregarded, I thought Megan and I could go for a 45 min walk and burn off some calories before it was dining time.  I am very familiar with all the trails around where I live because I've gone up and down them for years now.  However (that word is always the first sign of trouble), I made a slight error in judgement that particular day.

On the way back from a brisk 35 minute trip I said to my friend (a term that may not hold true in a few short paragraphs from now), "We can either go back early... OR there is a path just ahead that is another 10 minutes and will give us the full 45."  Ever the one for a good workout, Megan quickly agreed that was a fine idea and she was on board.  (Does that mean I get to put some of the blame on her?)

I'm not exactly sure what went wrong, probably all our gabbing, but I missed the turn.  And when we finally did turn, we were several more minutes away from home than I wanted to be.  I never didn't know where we were, because I am intimately familiar with the whole area.  We were just farther away than I had planned.  And we had precious, amazing food in the oven to get back to.  SHOOT!!  THE OVEN!  I wasn't up for a run at all seeing as I was mostly spent by this point on a super fast walking pace for 45 minutes, but the idea that my condo might catch on fire and dinner could be burned to coal was a miraculous motivator.  I somehow found the unexpected energy to beat feet and quick like.  Just like the little piggy, I ran all the way home.  (Megan in tow.)

We hit the trail through the woods, that was getting dark and Megan clearly was not so much happy with me.  But having been raised in the country, a little darkness didn't frighten me in the least.  Flames destroying my kitchen while my stove melted into a pile of liquid goo, now that scared me to death.  I bounded up the stairs to my condo, flung open the door with super human strength, raced to the oven in record time and everything... was perfectly fine.  Just see below:

You couldn't ask for better.  All my drama
was unnecessary, except it did
make for a heck of a nice story.

I would like to attribute this success in large part to the Le Creuset stoneware.  I told you it cooks evenly and doesn't burn, so now you have the ultimate proof.  User acceptance tested and all points passed.  (You can tell I work in computers.)

Now that is a big pan of reward for extra 
exercising, served up hot.

I also have to note the stove was on a low cooking temperature for the hour we were away, so I don't think there was any real risk in burning it. (She says so confidently now that she's home safe and enjoying a glass of wine and guiltless eating due to surprise extra calorie burning from frenetic run.)

The wine the Aussie sold me.
I couldn't resist!

A little warmed up eggplant Parmesan on the plate as well and it was a carbolicious dream come true.

I think I fit in three shells before I was full. 
Megan brought bread too. Darn that Megan!

Good news: Megan is still my friend.  (I think.)  I may have made her run ragged when she hadn't planned on it, but she was grateful for the extra hard workout which made up for the extra helping of stuff shells she couldn't resist having.  What can I say?  Different things motivate each one of us.  Lucky for me, I have a friend who values the same things I do.  We all need a friend like that!