Friday, November 7, 2014

Bacon Cheeseburger Stuffed Shells

So, I put stuffed shells on my menu this week.  And I also put lasagna on it.  I guess I was craving Italian when I made the menu (broccoli alfredo was on there too). Today while looking over the menu when deciding on what to have for dinner, I realized that lasagna and stuffed shells were basically the same thing.  In interest of variety, I went looking for something different to stuff into my shells, and found this recipe

The directions have you cook the bacon first and then add all the rest of the filling ingredients to it, but even though I cooked my bacon fairly crispy, the liquids from everything else made it soggy and chewy.  So next time I think I'll reserve it and sprinkle my crispy bacon bits on top at the very end, the last few minutes of cooking.

I also used real sharp cheddar cheese, rather than the gross american cheese product single squares, and used a recipe for cheese sauce from my Betty Crocker cookbook (included after the directions)




Ingredients:
About 17-20 cooked shells
1 lb of ground meat
10 slices of chopped bacon
5 slices of American cheese
3/4 cup of chopped onion
1 10 oz can of drained diced tomatoes
1/4 cup of ketchup
1 tsp ground mustard
1/2 tsp pepper
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. In a skillet  add chopped bacon. Cook on medium heat about halfway through. Drain the excess grease & add the onion & cook until bacon is crispy. Drain grease again. Add ground beef & spices. Brown the meat until fully cooked & drain.
Turn heat down & add the diced tomatoes  & ketchup. Stir well & add cheese to the top. Once melted stir until the cheese is evenly distributed.
Stuff shells with meat mixture and place into a baking dish. Spoon the cheese sauce (see below) over the shells. Cover & bake for about 10-15 minutes.

Cheese sauce:
2 tbsp butter 
2 tbsp flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp ground mustard
1 cup milk ((I used coconut milk so that it wouldn't bother Allison))
1/2 c shredded cheddar ((I used sharp and just dumped some in))

Melt butter in saucepan over low heat.  Stir in flour, salt, pepper, and ground mustard.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is smooth and bubbly.  Remove from heat.

Gradually stir in milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly.  Boil and stir 1 minute. Stir in cheese until melted.







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