mushroom spinach stuffed shells with homemade vodka sauce

Andi makes the most amazing vodka sauce, so i decided to give it a try. It wasn't until I was reading her directions that I realized I would have to light the vodka on fire. This was really exciting for me! I was a bit embarrassed buying vodka at the liquor store with all the homeless kids on Haight on a Monday evening. I made sure to tell the cashier I was making vodka sauce, but he just stared at me like I was crazy. I made the vodka sauce last week with penne pasta. I have been wanting to make stuffed shells for a long time now, and decided that I could use the rest of my vodka and make a combo of the two.

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
2 cups chopped mushrooms
1/2 onion, diced
1 15 oz ricotta cheese
1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup of fresh spinach, chopped
2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
salt and pepper, to taste
Vodka sauce
Box of jumbo shells

Andi's Vodka Sauce

Ingredients

3 tbsp olive oil

2 tablespoons garlic sliced

1/2 cup vodka

2 cups tomato sauce

3 tbsp heavy cream

fire!

Directions

Cook oil and garlic together for 1 min. Add vodka and turn off heat (make sure you do this!). Light pan on fire and let burn off, about a minute. Add sauce and cream, cook for 20 min.

Cooking the Shells

cook shells as directed

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet add the mushrooms and onions and sauté until golden brown (about 5-6 minutes). Remove from heat and let cool

In a large bowl combine the ricotta, 1/4 cup of the mozzarella, 1/4 cup of the Parmesan, the spinach, 1/2 the parsley, salt and pepper to taste. Mix thoroughly then add the mushrooms and onion sauté and combine.

Pour 1/2 of the vodka sauce in the bottom of a baking dish. Place the shells in the pan. Stuff each shell with the ricotta and mushroom mixture. Pour the remaining sauce over the stuffed shells. Add the last 1/2 cup of mozzarella and 1/4 cup of Parmesan. Cover with tin foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the tin foil and bake for an additional 5 minutes to brown the top