Sweet Heat Sausage Stuffed Shells

I call it sweet heat because the sauce has some red pepper flakes but the spice is balanced out with some sweet chicken sausage and sweet italian sausage and a drizzle of honey.

Ever wonder what to do with your extra arugula, spinach or kale leftover from a recipe or salad night?  Start a ziploc bag in the freezer and start throwing it in there.  After you have a full bag, use it for this recipe.  Just make sure to remove any stems that could get chewy in this recipe.

Sauce ingredients (Get this going first):
2 (16oz) jars of Emeril's Kicked Up Marina Sauce
1 cup of skim milk
1/2 cup chicken stock
3-6 dashes of tabasco
red pepper flakes
italian seasoning

To heat up the sauce:
Add the sauce to a pot and bring to a simmer. As soon as it's hot add a good amount of red pepper flakes and italian seasoning.  Stir.  Let simmer for about 10 minutes.  Stir in your milk, then chicken stock, then tabasco to thin out the sauce a bit.  Bring back to a simmer. Taste for seasoning and adjust heat level. 

Ingredients for filling:
1.2 lb Fresh Sweet Chicken Sausage (from your butcher or store brand)
1.2 lb Fresh Sweet Italian Sausage (from your butcher or store brand)
1 TBSP honey
about a 1 gallon ziploc bag of loosely packed greens (mine were spinach, arugula and kale)
16 oz part skim ricotta cheese
8 oz bag of shredded italian cheese
8 oz bag of shredded mozzarella cheese
italian seasoning
salt and pepper
5 cloves of garlic, minced
1 small onion, diced
3-4 turns of olive oil
2 TBSP fresh chopped parsley, plus more for garnish.
1 (16oz) box of jumbo shells
Olive oil or butter for prepping your baking dish

To make your filling:
1. Start by heating olive oil in a large pan. Add onion and salt and pepper and saute until translucent - about 6-8 minutes.

2. Add garlic and add in sausage (casings removed).  Break up constantly with a wooden spoon.

3. Meanwhile, defrost your greens in a large bowl in the microwave for about 2 minutes.  Using a kitchen towel (or two) ring out the greens and all the water.  Toss with salt, pepper, italian seasonings and a tad bit more garlic. Add to the meat mixture and stir.

4. Remove from the pan into a large bowl.  Let sit to cool - about 10 minutes.

5. Boil your large pasta shells about 9 minutes. Spray a sheet pan with cooking spray. Pull the shells out with the spider and lay out in a single layer on the sheet pan to cool. 

6. To your meat mixture, add the parsley, ricotta, 1/2 bag of each cheese, and honey. Toss to combine well.  Taste a few spoonfuls for seasoning. Your meat mixture will have a nice background of sweetness. Don't be afraid of it.  It will pair nicely with the spicy sauce.

7. Gather 2 baking dishes (9x13 is fine.). Brush the dishes with olive oil or butter. Then add 2-3 ladles of sauce on the bottom of each dish.

8. Preheat your oven to 350.

9. To fill your shells, hold one shell in the palm of your hand and use a soup spoon to gently get the filling in each shell. Mine are filled generously with a little coming over the top.  Lay the shell in the baking dish, open side up. As you continue to add them to the dish, place them close together and try to minimize open space so they don't slosh around when  you pick up the pan.
note: I used all the filling and only had about 3-4 shells left and a broken one. I used one 9x13 pan and one oval baking dish and they fit perfectly. 

10. Finish the top with the rest of the shredded cheese.

11. Bake for 30 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly.  You can use the extra sauce you have leftover to spoon over the top if you are a saucy person.  Garnish with parsley, if desired.



Wine pairing:
Vini La Quercia
Montepulciano d Abruzzo
2018
Italy