My friend Erin sent me this recipe to try:
Cheeseburger Stuffed Shells (click HERE for original website)
Their photo:
The recipe is below, my changes are in red:
Prep 20 min – Total 50 min – Servings4
For me, prep time was closer to 25 min and BAKE time 15 min, so total 50 min. I upped my ingredients to have enough for three people to have 1.5 helpings each plus three shells each for lunch next day (maybe 7(ish) helpings?)
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 sweet onion, diced – I used three green onions
2 cloves garlic, minced – 1 Tbsp minced garlic from the jar
1 lb. ground beef – 2lbs 85% lean ground beef
1 teaspoon kosher salt – Pink Himalayan Salt
1 teaspoon Beer Can Chicken Spice
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup ketchup – upped this to ½ cup as the meat ratio has changed
3 cups grated cheddar cheese
18 large pasta shells (from a 16 oz. box) – medium pasta shells (next time large)
Extra ketchup, for serving
Fresh oregano, garnish
Steps:
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Add olive oil to a large skillet over medium heat. Add (green) onion and garlic and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, start heating a large pot of water for cooking the pasta.
- Add ground beef to the skillet and cook, breaking up the beef as it cooks, until the meat is well browned, another 8-10 minutes (more like 15 min with 2 lbs). Season with salt and pepper (and Beer Can Chicken Spice – see picture below). Stir in ketchup and 1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese at the very end and remove mixture from the heat.
- Cook shells according to package until they are al dente. Be careful not to overcook the shells or they will fall apart later. Drain shells and let cool briefly. (For best results, cook more than 18 shells in case any break or tear during cooking. I cooked the whole box of shells and ate a few…just to make sure.)
- Working one at a time, stuff each shell with a generous spoonful of cheeseburger filling and place in a large baking dish (I realized that my metal baking dish has vanished so I used an extra-large and deep all metal skillet). Repeat process until you have used all of the cheeseburger mixture.
- Add 1/4 cup of water to the baking dish and cover it tightly in foil (I first put a little olive oil in the bottom of the skillet to make sure it did not stick). Bake shells for 15 minutes. Remove foil, sprinkle the remaining cheddar cheese over the top of the shells and bake uncovered for 10 more minutes, until cheese is completely melted. In actually reading this step – I see the error in my ways. I added the cheese to the pan before applying foil and only baked for 15 minutes. The shells could have been a smidge more done – next time I will follow these steps instead of half-ass reading my own.
- Remove from oven and garnish shells with a drizzle of ketchup and sprinkle of fresh oregano, if desired.
My photo (so utterly proud about how close this looks to the online photo!!):
This meal was utterly amazing and filling. It is in no way a “healthy” meal but I do not care. I will make this again and would suggest you to make it to. Right now. Seriously, print this out and go buy the ingredients….I’ll wait….
If you try it let me know in the comments below!
Nutrition Facts:
Calories: 720
Calories from Fat: 410
Total Fat: 45g
Saturated Fat: 22g
Trans Fat: 1 1/2g
Cholesterol: 155mg
Sodium: 1320mg
Potassium: 350mg
Total Carbohydrate: 34g
Dietary Fiber: 1g
Sugars: 4g
Protein: 45g
Thoughts and Ponderances 