Garlic and Chicken Stuffed Shells

Source: Allrecipes?

I saw this on Love Deliciousness as well as Annie's Eats and had to try it. We love Italian food more than anything and this looked like a good twist on basic pasta! Annie's Eats notes the recipe is originally from All Recipes, but when I searched the site, I couldn't find one exactly like it. No matter--the version posted here is great! Like the other blogs, I also halved this recipe. I cooked 12 shells for the two of us, and after stuffing the rest, froze those without adding pasta sauce. I'll just have to thaw the rest overnight to make them again! Very tasty and a departure from my typical Italian dishes!


Making these also reminded me I really need to use my oven more! I make so many dishes in a skillet that I forget how nice it is to clean up while everything's baking!

Garlic and Chicken Stuffed Shells

1 box (or more) uncooked jumbo pasta shells (about 50-55)
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 chicken breasts, cooked and coarsely shredded
30 oz. part skim ricotta cheese
1/3 cup Italian breadcrumbs
1 ½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. black pepper
1 ½ tsp. dried parsley (1 tbsp. fresh, chopped)
6 large basil leaves, torn (I used 1 tsp, dried)
1/3 cup half and half
approx. 28 oz. pasta sauce
¼ cup Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375°. Cook pasta shells according to package directions and drain. Separate onto a cutting board or cookie sheet to prevent from sticking together. Add ingredients garlic through half and half to a food processor and process until just combined. (I left the chicken out of the food processor, and then poured the mix over it and stirred, so as not to further chop up the chicken.) Add more salt and pepper if necessary, to taste.

2. Spoon enough sauce into baking dish(es) to cover the bottom. Fill the cooked shells with the ricotta mixture and place open side up in a prepared baking dish. Spoon as much of the remaining sauce over shells as desired. Bake covered with foil for 15-20 minutes, remove foil and continue baking for 5 minutes. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and serve.