I’ve never attempted stuffed shells before – I don’t like ricotta and they seemed like too much work – so this was sort of a personal challenge for me.
Of course no ordinary stuffed shell would do, but I had the idea to use alfredo sauce a while ago and I gave it a shot. Even I was impressed with how god this was! Miss O scarfed it down and asked for seconds, and Mr. O and I had more, too. That never happens!
I’ll get to the good stuff now. Here’s how to make it:
You’ll need about 2 cups of cooked, diced chicken, 1 cup of broccoli florets (just the very tops), 1 jar of alfredo sauce, and 1 box of jumbo pasta shells. Cook the pasta until al dente.
Cut the tippity tops of the broccoli florets so you have little pieces. They’re much easier to fit in the shells and they’re the most flavorful part. Mix the broccoli and chicken in a medium bowl.
Scoop 4-5 spoonfuls of sauce into the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch pan and spread around to cover. This will keep your noodles from sticking to the bottom of the pan and give you more of a coating so your pasta doesn’t dry out.
Scoop a big spoonful of the chicken and broccoli mixture into each shell and arrange in the pan.
Fill the pan with the filled shells, open side up. This lets the sauce (you’ll add that next) dribble down during the baking.
Drizzle the rest of the alfredo sauce over the top of the shells. I like to use a spoon so that I can make sure each shell gets some sauce – it also helps me get all the sauce out of the jar – but you can also just pour it out.
Bake at 350º for 45 minutes until the sauce is all bubbly and delicious.
Serve hot and let the compliments roll in!
[mpprecipe-recipe:15]
