Low-er Fat Stuffed Shells

These get me in trouble.

These get both Tony and I in trouble.

These would get Einstein in trouble if we actually shared some with him.

They're soooo good. They make enough to have lots of leftovers. If you wanted to double the recipe it would be a breeze. You can change up the cheeses and add in meat if you wanted to. They're yum. We eat too many when we have these, but that's ok because it's a lighter version because of the cottage cheese. Cottage cheese weirds me out. Blech! I would never, ever eat it plain, and I almost didn't make this recipe because it had this in it. But, once put in the food processor you can't even taste it and it saves lots of calories.

Here is what you'll need:

• 1 box jumbo pasta shells
• 1 large bag fresh spinach
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• cooking spray
• 1 cup low-fat cottage cheese
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded Asiago cheese (I just use the italian cheese blend in a bag from HEB)
• 1/3 cup grated fresh Paremesan cheese (or the stuff in the tub from HEB)
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 bottle of your favorite spaghetti sauce
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, divided

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside. Cook the spinach in olive oil over medium heat, until the spinach is wilted. Let the spinach cool and then wrap the spinach in cheesecloth or a clean kitchen towel; squeeze to drain. Set the spinach aside.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Coat a 13x9 inch baking dish and a 8 inch square baking dish with cooking spray; place cooked shells in baking dishes seam side up.

Place cottage cheese and ricotta cheese in a food processor; process until smooth. Combine cottage cheese mixture, Asiago, Parmesan, chives, parsley, garlic, black pepper, salt, and spinach in processor until smooth.

Spoon or pipe 1 tablespoon cheese mixture into each shell. Pour the spaghetti sauce over stuffed shells. Sprinkle 1/2 cup mozzarella over top.

Cover with foil and bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake for 5 more minutes, or until the tops of the shells are nicely browned.

Enjoy and try to hold yourself back from finishing off the whole batch.