Saturday, February 11, 2012

Shrimp-Stuffed Shells

This recipe came out of a Cooking Light magazine. I made some adjustment with the supplies I had on hand... They were pretty good, and pretty healthy too. My husband says I can definitely make them again. :)

The recipe said that you can find potato starch near the cornstarch in the grocery store. It also explained that the shrimp goes into the pasta shells raw to prevent it from over cooking while the pasta bakes.

{ingredients}
20 uncooked jumbo pasta shells (about 8 oz)
1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 c. chopped shallots
2 Tbsp minced garlic (about 6 cloves) {I used some garlic powder... as I didn't have the other stuff}
1/2 c. (4 oz) cream cheese {you can use 1/3 less fat version}
1/4 c. milk
1/4 tsp ground red pepper
1/3 c. chopped fresh basil {nope didn't have any of these. I used Italian seasoning instead}]...}
1 lb medium shrimp- peeled, deveined, and coarsley chopped {I had pre-cooked, frozen shrimp. So I thawed them and used them instead. It is also important to take not of the coarsly chopped... I used a food processor and it made them a little too fine it made a funny texture.}
1 Tbsp potato starch {I had no idea what this was... and didn't get any before trying it...}


{directions}
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Cook pasta 7 minutes, or until al dente, omitting salt and fat. Drain well. {I only cooked them for 5 minutes so they were less likely to break. upon filling and baking...}
3. Heat a medium skillet over medium heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add shallots; cook 4 minutes, stirring ocasionally. Add garlic; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly.
4. Add cream cheese mixture to shrimp; toss well.
5: {this is where I took the liberty to make them my own way} Put the mixture in a ziploc bag and cut one of the corners off. Use it to squeeze it into the shells.
6. Coat a 9 X 13 inch glass baking dish with cooking spray; spread 1 c. marinara sauce over the bottom of dish. Arrange shells in prepared dish; top with remaining 2 cups marinara. Sprinkle shells evenly with Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.
7. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes or until shrimp is done.