4 Cheese Manicotti/Stuffed shells

I really like to make this recipe on the weekend because it makes a 9x13 pan and a 9x9 pan.  I eat the 9x13 with my three roommates on the weekend and freeze the 9x9 to eat later in the week when two of my roommates are gone for dinner. It's a little putzy to stuff all the shells, but otherwise this is an easy recipe that makes a lot of delicious food.


Ingredients:

12oz jumbo shells (you can use manicotti, but I find the shells much easier to work with. You also get more pasta in a box of shells than a box of manicotti.)

Sauce:

1 lb Italian sausage

2 sm chopped onions

12oz can of tomato paste

15oz can tomato sauce

2 tsp basil

2tsp sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

2 cloves garlic

Stuffing:

24 oz cottage cheese

2 C shredded mozzarella

1 C shredded cheddar cheese

½ C parmesan

1 egg

1-2 C more mozzarella for topping

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Cook pasta until half done, it should be a bit harder than al dente.  In a large(hopefully deep) skillet brown the sausage. Add onion and garlic,  and cook until onion is tender. Stir in all tomato products and season. Simmer 15 min and turn off.  It should look like this:

Make the cheese filling by combining the cheeses (except for a cup or two of mozzarella) and egg in a separate mixing bowl:

Spread sauce on the bottom of the pan:

Stuff the shells with cheese and arrange on top of the sauce:

 Cover with remainder of sauce and sprinkle with mozzarella:

Cover and bake for 35 minutes. Enjoy!