sausage, eggplant, and spinach stuffed shells

stuffing the shells
on its way into the oven

andy works from 9-9 on saturdays so it's the one night of the week that i always make dinner. we had an eggplant in the fridge that i wanted to use but i wasn't quite sure what to do with it. i always fry eggplant and make eggplant parm, but i was really wanting to do something different last night. i searched around for a recipe and found this one on foodnetwork's webside (courtesy of emeril) it turnd out totally scrumptious. don't be frightened by the long list of directions. it looks more complicated than it actually is. if you're in a rush you could skip the homemade sauce and use prepared sauce from the store.

here's the recipe:

ingredients

· 2 tablespoons olive oil

· 3/4 pound sweet italian sausage, casings removed

· 2 cups chopped onion

· 1 large eggplant, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

· 1 1/2 teaspoons salt

· 3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper

· 2 tablespoons minced garlic

· 1/2 cup ricotta

· 12 ounces fresh spinach, blanched, squeezed dry, and chopped

· 1 cup freshly grated parmesan

· 1/4 teaspoon sugar

· 1/2 pound jumbo pasta shells

· 2 cups of canned crushed tomatoes

· 3 cups heavy cream

· 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh basil leaves

· 4 ounces shredded mozzarella

directions

in a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil over medium-high heat and saute the sausage until golden brown, stirring to break up the pieces, about 6 minutes. add half of the onions and the eggplant, season with 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper, and cook for 4 to 6 minutes, or until the vegetables are lightly caramelized and very soft. Add 1 tablespoon garlic and cook for 1 minute. remove from the heat and transfer to a large bowl to cool.

when the mixture has cooled to room temperature, stir in the ricotta, spinach, 1/2 cup parm, and sugar. stir to combine well.

Lightly grease a deep 9 by 13-inch dish and set aside.

preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta shells until just al dente (you don’t want to over cook them because they’ll lose their shape and be hard to stuff). drain and rinse under cold running water. pat shells dry. Stuff the pasta shells with the sausage-eggplant mixture and place in the prepared dish.

In a large saucepan, heat the remaining tablespoon of olive oil over medium high heat and saute the remaining chopped onions until translucent, about 4 minutes. add the remaining tablespoon of garlic and cook for another minute. add the crushed tomatoes, remaining 3/4 teaspoon salt, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper and cook for 5 minutes. Add the heavy cream and cook for about 20 minutes.

add the basil to the sauce and pour the sauce over the shells in the casserole. Sprinkle with the mozzarella cheese and the remaining parmesan. cover the casserole tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking until the sauce is lightly browned in spots and bubbly around the edges, about 15 minutes longer.