Weekend Updates and Three Cheese Stuffed Shells

This weekend was pretty tame. Friday night I was exhausted, and though I've been planning to make these stuffed shells for about two weeks, Blue took the liberty. They were absolutely delicious. That, plus Pitch Perfect and wine were all that occurred on Friday and it was perfect. Recipe below.

Saturday I had a class meeting for our paper and presentation that are due tomorrow (eeeek!). After two hours of bs'ing around (so not a fan of group projects), I left and headed to the Montclair Film Festival to see a documentary on my high school's biggest rivalry. Though football seems to reign in most high schools, the biggest rivalry of mine was actually a talent competition comprised of dance, cheerleading, and exercise called "Girls' Show." It is an annual tradition that dates back to the 1940's. Girls from freshman-seniors would try out for one of the teams, and the captains would choose absolute everything- the routines, the music, the costumes, etc. Everything was very top secret. The girls would be judged based on technique, originality, and spirit. My high school included kids from three different towns. The hometown (where the school was located, and my town) would usually be on and root for the Green team. Everyone else (usually) was on and rooted for the White team. When you lived in one of these towns, you heard about Girls' Show from about the 6th grade- it was the biggest event in this area. Your mom/aunt/cousin/sister/friends were in it. It was everywhere- and tickets would sell out a year in advance.

So it was no real surprise to see a ton of people from my high school there. No one I actually liked, but lots of familiar faces. I thought the documentary was really well done, though it's super weird to see your small town and some familiar faces featured on the big screen. After the show, Blue and I headed to Cuban Pete's. The wait was kind of long, and we didn't realize it was BYOB so it was a dry night, but the food was really, really good, and came out quickly despite the crowds. Blue had the churrasco (grilled skirt steak), and I had the beef stew. We will definitely be going back soon.

Sunday was filled with school work, though we did find some time to get out on the deck with a few beers. And naps. And more work. I'll be really when I'm at least done with my presentation tomorrow. Presenting always makes me super nervous. Until then, I'll be editing and practicing, and drinking boatloads of coffee!

But for now, here's that recipe: Three Cheese Stuffed Shells

Ingredients:

20 uncooked jumbo shells

15 oz. ricotta cheese

8 oz. (2 cups) grated Mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese 

12 basil leaves, chopped

1 egg

1-26 oz jar spaghetti sauce 

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook shells according to package directions, about 9 min. Drain and rinse in cold water.

2. In a large bowl, combine ricotta, Parmesan, 1 1/2 cups of the mozzarella, egg, salt, pepper, and basil. Spread 3/4 of the spaghetti sauce on the bottom of a 13x9 baking dish.

3. Spoon the cheese mixture into the pasta shells and place in the baking dish. Pour remaining of the spaghetti sauce over the shells and sprinkle with the remaining mozzarella. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 30 min. Uncover and bake for another 5-10 min. Enjoy!!