I love Mexican food,
and by Mexican food I pretty much mean any form of ground meat combined with
taco seasoning. Yes, I do enjoy Mexican restaurants (Tex-Mex when I am in Texas),
but at home taco seasoning turns anything into Mexican for me. So, the other
day when I was all set to make my usual recipe for Italian stuffed shells, I
decided to take the Mexican route replacing oregano with taco seasoning and
marinara with enchilada sauce. The end result was quite good, plus these are
easy to make, easy to assemble, and I prepared everything in the morning and
shoved it into the fridge for baking at dinner time.
I served three to
each of us with a side of shredded lettuce and chopped tomatoes, topped with guacamole and a dollop of
sour cream. Wonderful!
Mexican Stuffed Shells
18 jumbo pasta
shells
1 pound ground chuck
½ small yellow onion,
diced
1/2 teaspoon finely
minced garlic
1 packet taco
seasoning (or 2 T. Homemade)
4 oz. cream cheese
1 small can diced mild
green chilies (optional)
1 10-oz. can
enchilada sauce
1 cup cheddar
cheese, grated
1 cup Monterrey jack
cheese, grated
Preheat oven to 350ยบF.
Prepare pasta shells
according to package directions, rinse in cool water, and set aside.
In a 10-12 inch saute
pan over medium heat, cook ground chuck with the onion, breaking meat up as you
cook, until meat is evenly browned. Drain meat and return it to the pan. Add
garlic and allow to cook over medium heat for 1 minute. Stir in taco seasoning
until thoroughly incorporated, then add cream cheese. Stir until cream
cheese is melted, then add 1/3 cup of the salsa. Stir in green chilies, if
desired. Remove from heat.
In a small mixing
bowl, whisk together the remaining one cup salsa and enchilada sauce. Pour half
of sauce mixture into the bottom of a 1-1/2 quart casserole dish.
Fill each jumbo
shell with about 2 tablespoons of the meat mixture, dividing evenly among the
18 shells. Place shells on top of sauce in casserole dish and drizzle with the
remaining sauce, being certain to cover each individual shell. Cover with heavy
duty aluminum foil. (At this point the dish can be refrigerated for up to a day
prior to baking.)
Bake for 30 minutes, remove
foil, and top with cheese, again, being certain to cover each shell. Return to
oven, uncovered, and bake an additional 15-20 minutes until cheese is melted
and edges are bubbly.
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