Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Mexican Stuffed Shells

I got this recipe from a chat board that I go on so I decided to try it out this week....and yes, I picked the hottest day of the year to turn on the oven too!! But with central air, it wasn't that big of a deal to me.

Mexican Stuffed Shells

1 lb ground turkey
1 packet taco seasoning
jumbo shell pasta (12-15 shells)
1 cup salsa
4 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup taco sauce and 1/2 cup tomato sauce (mix together)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup shredded monterey jack cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Cook jumbo shells according to package. Drain and let cool
3. While shells are cooking, cook ground turkey in a frying pan until browned. Drain fat and add taco seasoning. Cook according to directions on seasoning packet. Once finished, add cream cheese and stir until cheese is melted and well mixed. Remove from heat and let cool.
4. Pour salsa to cover the bottom of a 9x13" pan
5. Stuff shells with meat mixture and place into pan.
6. Top shells with sauce mixture and shredded cheese.
7. Cover with foil and bake 30min. Remove foil, add shredded cheeses and bake an additional 10-15minutes until cheese melts.

(Notes: The recipe called for 12-15 shells which to me didn't seem like much. I cooked half of the box which was about 25 shells and had just enough meat to fill them. For the shredded cheeses, I just used a Mexican blend I got at the store. I also didn't cover the shells with foil. Instead, I topped them with the cheese right away and baked them close to an hour, uncovered.)

I did take a photo, but it didn't turn out well at all so I'm not going to bother posting it. These shells turned out really good and we'll definitely make them again. I was a little leary because I'm not a huge Mexican fan, but they weren't really spicy or anything like that. Definitely a nice variation from regular stuffed shells!

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