Mexican Stuffed Shells

Ingredients

  • 24 uncooked jumbo pasta shells (about one 12 oz box)
  • 1 pound lean ground beef
  • 1 (16 ounce) jar salsa
  • 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
  • 1 cup frozen corn
  • ½ cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 cup shredded reduced-fat Mexican cheese or cheddar cheese

Toppings:

  • 8 tablespoons reduced-fat sour cream
  • 8 tablespoons salsa
  • ¼ cup sliced black olives
  • ¼ cup sliced green onions

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
  2. Cook pasta shells according to package directions; drain.
  3. Meanwhile, in a nonstick skillet, cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink; drain.
  4. Stir in salsa, tomato sauce, corn, and beans.
  5. Spoon beef mixture into pasta shells and place in a 13×9 baking dish coated with nonstick cooking spray.
  6. Sprinkle with cheese. Cover and bake for 25-30 minutes or until heated through. Top with sour cream, salsa,, olives, and onions.

Original recipe page

Jonesey’s Enchiladas

Quinn used to work at Margarita’s in Mystic. (Its a great place for pretty standard Mexican food. The stories that came out of that place are legendary.) He loves cooking Mexican food. I’m … okay at it. Tonight, we came up with something epic.

Ingredients:

  • hamburger (about a pound and  a half was pretty good)
  • two handfuls of cheese
  • two dollops of salsa
  • 12 tortillas
  • green enchilada sauce
  • sour cream and more cheese for garnishes
  • chilies for more garnishes

Directions:

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees
  2. Brown the ground beef. When it is cooked completely, remove it from the heat and drain the grease.
  3. Mix in the cheese and salsa.
  4. Spoon the mixture into the tortillas, rolling them and placing them in a 9×13″ pan. Keep going until the pan is full or you run out of filling.
  5. Pour the enchilada sauce over the tortillas. Cover the pan with aluminum foil, and bake for 45 minutes. Remove the foil when there is about 5 minutes left on the timer.
  6. Scoop out the enchiladas. Sprinkle with cheese (and chilies if desired), and dump some sour cream on them for good measure.
  7. Eat!

Meatballs

This is just classic meatballs.

This is one of alpha child’s favorite recipes to make with me. Honestly, I appreciate letting someone else mix the meats, my hands get really cold doing that.

Meatballs

Tasty, tasty meatballs
Prep Time 45 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine European
Servings 8 people

Equipment

  • 1 mixing bowl large
  • 1 15" cast iron pan
  • 1 oven
  • 1 measuring cup
  • 1 garlic press optional
  • 1 baking pan must have sides

Ingredients
  

  • 1 lbs ground beef
  • 1 lbs sweet italian sausage may substitute ground pork
  • 2 cloves garlic pressed or finely chopped
  • 1 yellow onion, medium diced
  • 2 eggs large
  • 1 cup Romano cheese or Parmesan, or mixed Parm/Romano
  • 2 cups breadcrumbs
  • 1 cup olive oil divided
  • 1 pinch black pepper

Instructions
 

  • Combine beef, sausage, garlic, onion, eggs, cheese, breadcrumbs, and pepper in a bowl and mix thoroughly.
    The mix should be very moist, but able to be rolled into a meatball shape and hold it. You might need to dd a little water (up to a cup is sometimes needed) until it's moist enough.
  • Shape into meatballs.
    I generally aim for 1-2 inches across, or the size when you curl your index finger and touch your thumb. Larger meatballs will need a longer time to finish in the oven.
  • Preheat oven to 350° F
  • Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat.
  • Fry meatballs in batches in skillet until browned on all sides.
    Add oil as needed between batches.
  • Transfer meatballs to pan, and finish in oven for 15-20 minutes.
Keyword breadcrumbs, eggs, garlic, ground beef, onion, romano cheese, sweet italian sausage