Bacon Cheese Stuffed Shells. Sterling Roswell In Space..Er..On The Stereo.

Oooh! Big pan full of meltingly delicious combo of six cheeses, bacon and pasta…. Come to me now!

Wowza! (I know. Too many exclamation points for a post, but this is an exclaimer of a recipe.)

Pasta shells are über packed with cheese, bacon and some mushrooms (to make them healthy). This lot is then covered with a thick, creamy sauce (note the 2% milk to make them healthy) and more cheese before baking.

The result? A most wonderful, decadent meal (that isn’t good for you…just pour some red wine for your heart and it will all be okay.)

:)

Bacon Cheese Stuffed Shells

Ingredients:

24 uncooked jumbo pasta shells
1 cup chopped fresh mushrooms
1 cup finely chopped onion
1 tablespoon plus 1/4 cup butter, divided
1-1/2 cups ricotta cheese
8 ounces cream cheese, softened, divided
1-1/2 cups shredded Asiago cheese, divided
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1 cup crumbled cooked bacon
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley, divided
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons flour
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup 2% milk
2 cups shredded Romano cheese
1-1/2 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

Directions:

1. Cook pasta according to package directions.

2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, sauté mushrooms and onion in 1 tablespoon butter until tender.

3. In a large bowl, beat ricotta and 4 ounces cream cheese until blended. Stir in 1/2 cup Asiago cheese, Parmesan, bacon, 1 tablespoon parsley, garlic salt, pepper and mushroom mixture.

4. Spoon the filling into shells. Place filled shells into a greased 13 x 9-inch baking dish.

5. Preheat oven to 350°F.

6. In a large saucepan, melt remaining butter. Stir in flour until smooth, then gradually add cream, broth and milk. Bring to a boil. Cook and stir 1-2 minutes until thickened. Stir in Romano cheese and the remaining cream cheese, Asiago and parsley.

7. Pour sauce over shells. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.

8. Cover baking dish and bake 30 minutes. Uncover; bake 10-15 minutes longer or until bubbly.

Serves 12

Recipe from Taste Of Home Magazine

Sterling Roswell (obs no coincidence to NM) has a spacey new tune out, “Interplanetary Spaceliner”, from his new album ‘The Call Of The Cosmos’.