Aug 20, 2010

Stuffed Shells, Giada Style*

There's my Giada impersonation.  Completely irrelevant to the recipe, much like how all of her boob shots are- pointless time-wasters.  I'm sure Hubs and the rest of the male population feels differently but. . .this rant will go on for ages, so I'll stop now.  However, if I have to hear randomly selected words pronounced with an Italian accent!  Disclaimer- when making this recipe I did catch myself saying "ree-cot-TA!". 

Moving on. . .


First- preheat your oven to 400 degrees, toss a bag of frozen artichokes with a tad of olive oil and some salt, throw on a cookie sheet, and stick in the oven to roast.

Next, set your water to boil, for the "paaahs-TA".  When it comes to a rolling boil, throw in a box of jumbo shells for 4-5 minutes.  If you overcook those suckers, they are like trying to stuff a jellyfish, so don't do it.

Also, pour a couple of jars of high quality jarred marina (or tomato sauce of your choosing) in pot to slowly heat.

While that's going on, chop an onion (she calls for half, but I am a big fan of Allium cepa**).
Let's throw in 3-4 cloves of garlic, as well.

So the onion and the garlic go in a large saucepan with a splash of olive oil (make sure the pan is big enough for a pound of turkey that will joining the onions and garlic).  Cook them until they are golden and smelling to high heaven of deliciousness.

Meanwhile chop enough basil to fill a (heaping) 1/4 of a cup.


Then chop a handful of Italian (flat-leaf) parsley.  Throw those in a bowl with 15 ounces of whole milk ricotta, and a cup of grated Parmesan (please grate yourself.  If you don't, which I understand due to time restraints, be sure to buy freshly grated).


Put a pound of ground turkey in with the garlic and onion, and sauté until not pink anymore.  The recipe says golden, but I have never seen golden turkey in my life!  Ugh, Giada.
Lightly beat two eggs.

Remove your artichokes from the oven and chop. Well, cool them a bit first so you don't burn your fingers off.  Add them to the turkey mixture.
At this point, you are supposed to let the turkey mixture cool.  I have zero patience, so I skip this step.  However, you need to temper your eggs, so you won't have scrambled-egg stuffed shells (which actually could be kind of delightful- mmmm with bulk sausage?).  Anyhoo, toss a touch of the turkey into your eggs and stir to gradually warm them.  Add the turkey mixture to your cheeses, then stir in the eggs.

Now it's time for the stuffing.  I prefer to use 3 8x8 pans for this recipe- one for dinner tonight, one for a friend, and one for the freezer.

Cover the bottom of the pan with the tomato sauce.
Put a stuffed shell in one hand, and with the other hand, grab a handful of the turkey and cheese mixture.  Fill that shell up, and put in the pan.  Repeat.  A bunch of times.  Giada says this makes 24.  I don't know what kind of shells she is stuffing, but I usually make 36.

Drizzle heaps of the tomato sauce on top, then throw a generous amount of shredded mozzarella on top.  I won't give y'all my lecture on pre-shredded cheese again, but you know what I strongly advocate doing!



If you freeze the shells, bake in a 400 oven for an hour.
If eating now, bake in 400 oven for 20 minutes.

Y'all these really are soooo good.  You could add spinach too, which would look really pretty, and add some more veggie power.

Giada style, another gratutious picture of me in something low-cut.



*Gratuitous ta-ta shots involved
**Did y'all know I took 3 years of Latin?  Mama thought it would be helpful for learning other languages.  She was wrong, and I suspect this was a cover.  She really just wanted a Latin reader for aid with her New York Times crosswords.

14 comments:

  1. You are too funny! Love your Giada pictures! I must know - where did you find that adorable sweater? Looks great on you.

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  2. Thanks for the recipe...and for making me laugh a lot. I have caught lil bro watching Giada many a times. His excuse is that she comes on after paula deen...I am suspicious of his argument.

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  3. Bwhaha, love the Giada impersonation! I must say, I do adore Giada, although and disgusted by the fact that she's basically a toothpick with boobs. Says the angry curvy girl. Hmph.

    I've made this recipe before and love it!

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  4. Hilarious! & Delicious! Thanks for sharing!

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  5. I have a love/hate relationship with Giada. I love her recipes and style, but I do get tired of the boobs, lemons, and the phrase "salty bite". LOL! I made a similar recipe using manicotti, and my family scarfed it down.

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  6. this was hilarious!!! I definitely am a little skeptical of ms. giada...

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  7. Love the recipe and the spoof on her! Actually a friend of mine used to edit one of her shows. He told me how they would put in gratitous shots with choice music selections for fun! I loved watching just for those combos!

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  8. Lovely post! And I love all the poking fun at Giada snark. No one pronounces ricotta like she does in America!
    Are you anti-preshredded cheese also? I just can't abide it in my kitchen!

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  9. I love your Giada impersonation. However, your head is not as HUGE as hers. Cause hers is massive. I dunno if it's the boob grabbing camera angles or what.... but it's HUGE. Whoa.

    These look amazing.

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  10. The recipe looks so yummy. Thank you for the Giada impresonation...I feel the same way...button up Giada...your cooking!

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  11. Too funny! Yeah, while I love Giada, the frontage shots and her non-existant waist kind of irritate me. She can probably eat whatever she wants and not gain a pound. Sigh.

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  12. WOW. These look amazing!! And no, didn't know about the latin but you never surprise me with all of your neat fun facts!

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  13. I've made those stuffed shells and they are GOOD. Funny impression - I think you've got it down!

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  14. Let's have an entire "Giada" series, shall we?

    This recipe looks great,and I adore your sweater!

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