Oh go stuff yourself!...... (with Stuffed Shells)

Recently I made pans of Stuffed Shells with Chicken for several different friends. It is semi-fast and easy to create and it makes a massive amount. Therefore it is a great dish to make for a large crowd...or as in my case....to take around to different people.

In this case I stuffed the shells with chicken and white cheeses.  I also make them where I stuff the shells with mozarella and cottage cheese mixture, but I put a lasagna or spaghetti sauce over the top. That makes the whole meal like a manicotti or lasagna meal.  I figured everyone knew how to do that meal, so I photographed the chicken shells.You can see in the pictures above part of the ingredients I used. The shells are very easy to work with.

This is what the "goop" looks like before it goes into the shells. It is the entire container of cottage cheese, two large handfuls of grated mozarella cheese, and four chicken breasts (that have been cooked and shredded). (Sorry, I've warned you I meausre by pinches and handfuls!) Mix your ingredients together in a large mixing bowl.

In the meantime boil your entire box of shells until they are just tender....or al dente to be proper! Rinse them with cool water, then use a large spoon and 'stuff' your shells with goop.

I then put the stuffed shells into a slightly greased casserole dish. In this case, I used disposable tin pans from the Dollar Tree. They have great deals and lots of sizes on disposable pans. Notice, they even come with lids!

Get your pans all filled up and then line them up for the White Sauce.  That's right, you read it correctly. You are going to make a white sauce to go on top of all this deliciousness!!

This is what the final product looks like with the white sauce and cheese on top, before it is baked. I'm telling you...pure delicousness!

Whenever I make a white sauce I try to always have Wondra flour on hand. I have made it without Wondra many times, but it is just easier with Wondra!  My White Sauce recipe:

4 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 cups milk

In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Add flour and stir until the butter and flour are well combined. Pour in milk, stirring constantly as it thickens. Add more milk or more flour depending on desired consistency.

Drizzle the top of your stuffed shells with the white sauce. I then add shredded cheese and parmesan cheese to the top. Just for fun. Just for delicousness.

OK, let's count the cheeses we have put into these stuffed shells...1. Mozarella cheese 2. Cottage cheese 3. Cheddar cheese 4. Parmesan cheese. Darn, if I could put one more in, then we would have a five cheeser! I'm sure we can think of something!

Since the chicken and the noodles have been cooked before putting it together, then it only needs about 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees.

The only thing needed is a salad

and some breadsticks....

and of course some hungry appetites!

Enjoy!!

I have put this on Foodie Friday. I hope you will go by and see all the great recipes on this site.