Mexican Stuffed Shells

Arriba arriba andale andale! Hope you're in the mood for a little Mexican food with a twist. We've never though of combining Mexican + stuffed shells, but let me tell you what, this is the way to go! These guys were delicious and easy to throw together too (even if it is a heavy dish meal). We served them with some grilled veggies and a salad.


Recipe roughly modified from The Way to His Heart. After navigating through about 7 other blogger's posts, I found the original recipe on Blog Chef. They added crushed tortilla chips when they added the cheese, which sounds amazing! I'd recommend trying it (they used 1.5 cups crushed chips) - I'm definitely going to add them next round.

Ingredients

• 1 lb. 93% lean ground beef

• 1 package low-sodium taco seasoning 
• 
4 oz. light cream cheese

• 14-16 jumbo pasta shells

• 1.5 cup chunky salsa

• 1 cup taco sauce (This is a smooth, tomato based sauce found in the Mexican section)
• 
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 
1 cup shredded monterey jack cheese

• 3 green onions

• Low-fat sour cream, to top

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°. 
2. Cook the pasta shells according to directions; drain. Set shells out individually on cutting board/baking sheet so that they don’t stick together.
3. While pasta shells boil, cook ground beef in a large pan. After draining fat, add taco seasoning and prepare according to package directions.  
4. Add cream cheese, cover and simmer until cheese is melted. Blend well. Set aside and cool completely.  
5. Pour salsa on bottom of a 9×13 baking dish. Stuff each shell with the meat mixture. Place shells in 9×13 pan open side up. Cover shells with taco sauce. 
6. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, add shredded cheese and bake for about 15 more minutes, with the foil removed. 
7. Top with green onions and sour cream.