Taco Stuffed Shells Recipe

This is an adaptation of a recipe from Young Chefs Academy that my old roommate brought home from work. Originally made with beef crumbles and cheese mixture (also good) black beans are an excellent cheap alternative and my personal preference. Taco Stuffed Shells have become a comfort food of mine, probably because they're warm, filling, spicy and have a wonderful contrast of creamy cheese filling to crunchy tortilla.

A good recipe for when you have guests over or when you're scrounging in the pantry, the fresh veggies can always be axed at no great loss to the dish. It is worthwhile to note that this is not at all healthy but it is very delicious. See for yourself.

Ingredients:

22 oz+ tomato sauce (I used all of two 15oz tomato sauce cans from Trader Joe's)
1 can black beans
1 package neufchatel or light cream cheese. Or full fat if you need a heart attack imminently. Set this out.
1 bell pepper, cut into chunks and lightly sauted with garlic
4+ cloves of garlic, crushed or finely chopped
2/3 cup onions, sauted, if you like 'em. I don't, I add a bit of onion powder instead
1 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 - 2 tablespoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne powder. My house likes spicy food so I typically add more
1 1/4 tablespoon vinegar (up to 2 tablespoons if you like vinegar and it's acccompanying tang)
1 tablespoon chipotle chili powder
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 tablespoon of brown sugar or honey. Add more if you were too heavy on the vinegar or spicy things eariler
2 cups shredded cheese - cheddar & monterrey jack preshredded bags are great
sour cream, for garnish/dipping - optional
3-4 handfuls tortilla chips, broken - I use this as an opportunity to use up the bottom of the chip bags
1 box of jumbo shells pasta - you'll use between 20-25 shells - count 'em out and set aside. Make a few extra over this for breaks during cooking - broken ones are difficult to stuff.

prep

Do your veggie prep - slice/chunk the bell pepper and onions, chop the garlic or skin and half it for pressing. Set a large pot of water to boil for the pasta and proceed to cook pasta once boiling. Preheat the oven to 350 f. Set a 9x13 pan aside.

Pour tomato sauce in a sauce pan with the heat set on medium-low. Add vinegar, 3 cloves pressed garlic, olive oil, cumin, paprika, chipolte chili powder, cayenne powder and onion powder (or the real thing later). Stir sauce occasionally while doing the following:

Strain and rinse the black beans, set aside.Add a little olive oil in a pan and saute the onions and bell peppers with 1 clove crushed garlic.

If your veggies are done you can add them directly into the sauce. At this point I check on the sauce and see how it is doing in terms of flavor balance. I like it to be tangy and sweet, spicy and aromatic with garlic and cumin. If it's too spicy or acidic you can try adding more sugar or honey. If it needs more spicing try adding more chili powder, cumin, paprika or cayenne (if you want it hotter).

When the pasta is done strain and set aside tossed with a little olive oil or butter to discourage sticking.

Now combine the cream cheese or neufchatel and black beans in a pan on medium heat with a few dashes of paprika, cumin, a few extra shakes of chipotle powder and just a little cayenne. Stir until the cheese, beans and spices are well mixed. You can turn the heat off once the cheese is melted and stirable so it doesn't just get burned onto the pan.

Almost done now. Stir the sauce and pour 1/4 to 1/2 in the bottom of the 9x13 pan. Spread an even layer, not too thin. Grab a pasta shell and with a regular table spoon stuff it with the cheese-bean goo, it doesn't need to be heaping. Lay in the sauced up pan in rows. My 9x13 usually fits about 17-20 shells so having a small bread pan to fit the extra 5-7 is perfect. If you need to use two pans adjust how much sauce you pour into the bottom initially accordingly. Once all your shells are stuffed and filling is gone spoon/pour the remaining sauce over the shells evenly. Cover with foil and bake for 10-15 minutes.

Pull the pans out and sprinkle on the 2+ cups cheese followed by the crumbled tortilla chips. Pop 'em back in the oven for 5-15 minutes or until the cheese is melted and it is hot throughout.

One serving seems to be 3 to 5 shells, so this recipe is great for 2-4 with leftovers, or can feed more when served with sides. Serve with extra tortilla chips, sour cream, hot sauce, salsa, guacamole, corn...yum!

Made listening to Cake, Afroman and some other great artists on grooveshark.

Homemade Mac & Cheese Recipe: Attempt #2

I had tried my first homemade, grown-up mac and cheese a few weeks ago after inspiration from a blue cheese mac found on r/ recipes. With two types of white cheddar, robusto, and gruyere on hand I thought what could go wrong?

Apparently the bechamel is what can go wrong. When I added the cheese to my butter-flour-milk base the sauce turned grainy rather than that fantastic smooth texture so sought after in alfredo and cheese sauces. Attempt numero dos went much better, and went approximately as follows. Also, preheat your oven to 350 and have a 9x13 ready. I buttered the pan but I have no idea if that actually helped with sticking or not. But first, another picture of the finished product to tempt you with:

Bechamel/Cheese Sauce Ingredients:

1 1/2 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk (I used 2%)
1/4 to 1/3 cup-ish 1/2 & 1/2

3 cups + grated good melting cheeses. Not pre-shredded, and not any of that low fat crap. Cheddars, provolone, gruyere, fontina and mozerella should all melt nicely, just to name a few.

3ish cups dry pasta of your choice, I had penne on hand. Check the package for servings...

store bought bread crumbs or a sourdough loaf, 4-5 slices, or I guess if you have some slightly stale bread?

1/2 tsp to 1 tablespoon of nutmeg, cayenne, paprika, garlic, basil, rosemary, onion, tomato, carrots....some combination of these things, if desired

salt/pepper to taste


Prep:

Get it done and out of the way now and grate your cheese. I like to do about 2 cups cheddar gruyere and one cup mix of whatever else sounds good. You can definitely add more cheese, 4 cups if you like. And who doesn't like more cheese?

If you don't have pre made bread crumbs,  slice bread and toast it or stick it under the broiler. Keep an eye on this or you'll burn it like woah. Flippie flippie a couple times until crispy. While these get toasty get a pot of water boiling on the stove for the pasta. Then hammer that bread with a meat pulverizer or whatever heavy thing is in your kitchen for insta-bread crumbs.

Time to make sauce! Yay. Melt the butter on low medium heat in a medium pan and add the flour, stirring to a smooth consistency. I always try and use a small sauce pan because this does not make a large amount of liquid but you'll need to go for a medium pan because 3 cups of cheese are going into this too.

Going well so far? Great! Now pour the milk into this butter/flour cream and stir/whisk to combine. Keep this on low to medium heat - do not boil the milk but you want to cook the glutens in the flour some for better flavor/thick awesome sauce texture. Your water is probably boiling by now; get that pasta cooking as per it's instructions, minus one minute. Let the milk mixture cook, while stirring frequently for about 5 minutes. Add salt, pepper and spicing now if you want. I added 1/4 to 1/2 tsp cayenne and some other things later.

Turn off/down to low for the heat on the milk mixture. Stir a few times and start adding your cheese, while constantly whisking, 1/2 cup at a time. Do not add more cheese until the first batch has melted. You don't have to turn off the heat but it needs to be JUST warm enough to melt your cheese. Remember - you can always turn the heat up a bit at a time if your cheese isn't melting  but if it gets overheated and turns grainy your sauce is DONE. And not in a good way.

Your pasta is probably going to finish somewhere during this - strain it and set it aside with a bit of butter or oil to discourage sticking. Continue whisking the sauce constantly and slowly adding cheese until all your cheese is gone and smoothly blended. Don't worry if it's somewhat liquidy still, it will thicken in the oven some. Add more spices to taste and that sauce is saucy.

If my saucepan is large enough I usually just dump the pasta into the finished sauce, stir a bit, and add them together into the 9x13 pan. I then sprinkle bread crumbs, cheese, or additional spices (grated nutmeg sprinkles across the top is excellent) evenly-ish across the top, cover with foil and bake for 10-15 minutes. You can add your brad crumbs after this first baking if you're worried about them burning or over crisping. Uncover, and bake for another 5-15 minutes if your sauce isn't thick enough yet. If it is thick and creamy (that sounds dirty...), bon appetit! :)

Made listening to Quantum's Apricot Morning and Kid Koala....not sure of the album.