Pumpkin Stuffed Shells

Last night, we carved our halloween pumpkin! My son and I put together these delish pumpkin stuffed shells before we started carving our Jack! What a perfect dish to have cooking away in the oven at that time. The house smelled amazing as I cleaned out the pumpkin, my son was showing off the face that he wanted carved on the pumpkin, and my skilled husband carved out our Jack O' Lantern.

Well, hello Mr. Jack!

Side note, stuffing shells is a WONDERFUL way for little hands to stay busy in the kitchen, and really help out a lot with getting dinner on the table! Just put the filling in a ziploc bag and seal and snip of a corner and SQEEZE!

From chewnibblenosh.com

1 Tbsp. butter

3/4 cup onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

30 jumbo pasta shells

olive oil

2 1/2 cups low-fat ricotta cheese

1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin puree

1 cup grated parmesan cheese

1 large egg white

1 cup fresh basil, finely chopped, i used Thai Basil, because that is what i have growing in my kitchen

1 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh sage

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

1 jar store-bought tomato sauce

In a small saute pan, melt the butter over medium high heat.  Add the onion and cook for a few minutes, stirring occasionally, until onion begins to brown.  Add the garlic and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Remove from the heat and set aside.

Cook the pasta shells according to the directions on the package.  Spread a little bit of olive oil on a cookie sheet.  Drain the pasta shells and then line the shells up on the prepared cookie sheet.

In a large bowl, combine the onion mixture, ricotta, pumpkin, 3/4 cup of the parmesan cheese and the remaining ingredients, except for the tomato sauce.

Fill each pasta shell with a few tablespoons of the ricotta mixture.  At this point, the shells can either be covered with foil and chilled until bake time or you can continue with the recipe.

Preheat the oven to 350*.  Spread the jarred sauce in the bottom of one 9×13 pan or two 8×8 pans.  Arrange the shells in the baking pan(s).

Cover the pan with foil and bake for 30 minutes.  Remove the foil, sprinkle with 1/4 of parmesan cheese, and bake for 15 minutes more.