Spinach and Ricotta Stuffed Shells

I wanted something vegetarian for dinner last night, so I made Spinach and Ricotta Stuffed Shells from Real Simple's May 2010 issue. They turned out pretty well. I wasn't in love with them and I didn't hate them. They were ok, but wouldn't nab the hottest guy at school, if you know what I mean. One thing I did like about this recipe is that it uses fresh spinach, which is must quicker to prepare than the frozen stuff. Just chop and go. I never look forward to defrosting and wringing out all the liquid from the frozen spinach and usually make my sous chef, Marshal Mike, do it. But he was off rediscovering his love of lacrosse last night, so no sous chef, no frozen spinach! (And no cheese grating! I bought the pre-shredded mozzarella cheese. I know people say that it doesn't melt as well, but look at the picture, it melted just fine.)

The one problem I ran into was that when I took the dish out of the oven after broiling, the filing was just barely lukewarm. I think the problem was that the recipe calls for the dish to be on the top shelf when it is cooking and for the broiler. If I make these again, I will put the dish in the center to cook and the top for broiling. I thought it was weird that it would cook on the top rack, but I blindly followed the recipe instead of doing what I knew was right. Oh well. Better luck next time.

On tap tonight, Cheddar Chicken, also from Real Simple's May 2010 issue. We are also buying dog paraphernalia tonight. That's right, dear readers, we are getting a dog this weekend. Don't worry, you will be properly introduced.

UPDATE: These shells taste delicious reheated for lunch! Perhaps they just needed a night in the fridge and time to get to know one another! Also, I purposefully did not cook the shells all the way through, so they wouldn't turn to mush on the second day. Oh, I would also like to say something about serving size. This recipe says it serves 4, which means each person would get 5 stuffed shells. That is a lot of food. I ate 3 last night and felt like a piggy and put 4 in each of the leftover tupperwares (well, 5 went in the last one that I made sure MM took to work this morning) and halfway through my lunch I am full. I will have to see if MM eats all 5.