3 Cheese Stuffed Shells with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

This recipe was FABULOUS! The mint in the filling added an amazing natural "sweetness" and the sauce was seriously the best sauce I've ever had! Delish!





3 Cheese Stuffed Shells with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
(from Clean Eating magazine-Aug/Sept 2011 issue)

Ingredients:

Sauce:
3 Cups Chopped Tomatoes
12oz. Roasted Red Peppers, drained & roughly chopped
1/2 tsp. Dried rosemary
1/2 tsp. Dried oregano
1/4 tsp. Red pepper flakes
Fresh ground black pepper, to taste
1/2 cup chopped parsley (I used cilantro)

Shells:
4 ears corn, husked (I used 3/4 bag frozen corn)
Olive oil cooking spray
30 large whole grain pasta shells
1 1/2 cups low-fat Ricotta cheese
3 oz. Goat cheese
2 T. Chopped fresh mint
2 T. Chopped fresh parsley (again, I used cilantro)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Fresh ground black pepper, to taste
3 oz. Part-skim mozzarella cheese

Instructions:
1. Prepare sauce: in a medium saucepan, combine tomatoes, roasted peppers, rosemary, oregano, red pepper flakes, and black pepper. Bring to a simmer on medium-high heat, then reduce to medium-low and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Transfer to a blender and add parsley (or cilantro). Remove plastic center from blender lid to allow steam to escape. Hold a kitchen towel loosely over the top and puree.

2. Prepare shells: preheat broiler. Mist corn with cooking spray and place on a rimmed baking sheet. Broil 8-10 inches from heat until light golden brown on all sides, turning as needed, about 8 minutes. Carefully remove kernels with knife. Transfer to a bowl. (I skipped this step completely and used frozen corn).

3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Meanwhile, prepare pasta shells according to package directions, cooking until just al dente. Drain thoroughly. In a large bowl, combine ricotta, goat cheese, mint, parsley (or cilantro), egg, and 1/2 of corn (about 1.5 cups). Season with black pepper.

4. Spread 1 cup sauce on bottom of 9x13 baking dish. Fill each of 24 shells (6 additional cooked for damaged shells) with about 1 rounded tablespoon of filling and place in baking dish, filling side up. Cover shells with remaining sauce, remaining corn, and mozzarella. Bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes or until sauce is bubbling. Let cool for 10 minutes, garnish with parsley (or cilantro) and serve.

Nutrients per 3 shell serving:
Calories-429, total fat-8 g, carbs-69g, fiber-6 g, sugars-9 g, protein-18.5 g, sodium-437 mg, cholesterol-53 mg


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