Three Cheese & Chicken Stuffed Pasta Shells

Stopping by the store on the way home from work looking for something to make for dinner I was clueless. I had to take a couple laps through the store to get an idea. I didn't want to spend much, so things that were on sale were big motivators for me on this one. Other than the 3 chicken breasts which were on sale for $4.18 everything else was $2.50 or less for a total just over $12, and I'm sure this dish could serve six. I was looking for simple and quick. It was good, but I will suggest adding some mushrooms, spinach and artichoke hearts. It's an afterthought that I will definitely add the next time around.



Cover the chicken breasts with water, throw in a little chicken bouillion and boil.



In a large pot bring 8 qts of salted water to a boil and add one 12oz box of jumbo pasta shells





Take your now boiled chicken breasts and slice them up. Put them in a bowl with about 1/4c of reserved chicken broth.



After the pasta has cooked for about 15 miniutes, drain and shock with cold water until cool. This will stop them from cooking further as well as cool them off for handling.



Shred the chicken. I used a whisk with thick strong wires in a bashing-twisting motion which worked nicely.



Add to the shredded chicken about 12oz of cottage cheese, a cup of shredded mozzerella, 1 TBSP of Italian dressing, and one egg. If you want, you may be able to skip the egg, but I think it really helped hold things together.





Mix well.



Drop a little extra-virgin olive oil in an 8x8x2 inch baking pan and coat the bottom and sides to prevent sticking.



With a spoon, generously stuff the jumbo pasta shells with the mixture.



Arrange the stuffed shells in the pan with the open-side up.



Generously shake some grated parmesean cheese over the stuffed shells.



Cover the shells with a jar of you favorite pasta sauce. I opted for the Ragu sundried tomato and basil. It was on sale for $1.50, and for store bought sauce worked just fine. Sprinkle a little more parmesean and bake in a 350 degree oven for about 40 miniutes, or until the sauce bubbles for about ten miniutes. Basically long enough to cook the egg through to firm the stuffing.



Once it's rested for about 10 miniutes or so plate it up, sprinkle a little more shredded mozzarella and enjoy. Like I said this was good but could have used some veggies in the stuffing.

Ingredients List

• (3) Chicken breast fillets
• (1) 12oz box of jumbo pasta shells
• Large curd cottage cheese
• 8oz shredded mozzarella
• (1) Jar of favorite pasta sauce
• parmesean cheese
• Italian Dressing
• (1) egg
• olive oil