Jill Can Cook: Parmesan Chicken Pesto Stuffed Shells

As you all may know, we've been getting an insane amount of snow in our area recently. It really takes the fun out of doing stuff. In fact, there was an entire week this month that I didn't leave my house at all! And to top it off, last weekend was both Valentine's Day as well as Joe's and my 8th year Dating Anniversary. Unfortunately, we weren't able to go anywhere for either of those special occasions because we'd just gotten a foot of snow a day or two prior and then got another foot of snow on Valentine's day.

So, my mom decided to throw a party. It was kind of a late Valentine's party, since hardly any of us really got to do anything then. It was also a potluck. Everyone offered to make/bring some type of food. Joe and I decided to make stuffed shells. I found this recipe at Riches To Rags By Dori,.I thought it sounded pretty delicious and didn't seem too off the wall... And...

Parmesan Chicken Pesto Stuffed Shells

Ingredients:

 

• 20-25 jumbo pasta shells
• water for boiling pasta
• 4 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan or Asiago cheese + 1/4 cup for topping (I used Parmesan)
• 3 tablespoons prepared pesto (homemade or store bought, I used store bought)
• 2 cups shredded cooked chicken
• 2 cloves garlic, minced ( I used minced garlic out of a jar)
• salt and pepper to taste

 

 Directions:

 

1. In a large pot over high heat, boil water and prepare pasta shells as directed on package. Cook pasta shells only until al dente. The pasta will finish cooking when the dish is baked. Drain the pasta shells and set aside.
2.  In a large bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients, except the 1/4 cup of cheese for the topping. Fill the pasta shells with the filling and place in a baking dish.  Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of cheese over filled shells. 
3.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake shells uncovered for 30 minutes or until shells are bubbling hot and cheese melts. I did mine for 35. You can put it on broil for a minute to brown the tops if you want. 

This is another one of those recipes that makes a lot of dirty dishes. I used a frying pan to cook the chicken (it could've been boiled, but Joe felt like frying it), a large pot to cook the shells, and a small pan to make the pesto. I also used a cutting board to cut the chicken, a bowl to mix everything in, and a baking dish to cook it! I probably spent more time cleaning up afterwards than actually cooking!

Here are some pictures of all my dirty dishes in use:

Joe salt and peppered the chicken. I also salt and peppered the finished shells.

All the prepared ingredients getting ready to be mixed.

The filling after it's been completely mixed.

The shells right before they went into the oven.

The recipe I originally followed only called for 16 shells, but I just cooked the entire box of shells and figured I could use the extras for something else. I'm glad I did since I accidentally cooked the shells a little longer than I meant to. The over cooking made them a little flimsy and a lot of them broke.

Oddly, this actually worked in my favor because the shells stayed nice and soft during the cooking in the oven part afterwards. For once, screwing up a bit actually didn't ruin anything! Woo hoo!

Quinn decided to just eat the mangled shells as is. Fine by me!

I popped the finished shells into our oven for about 20 minutes, just to get them mostly done. Then we drove a half an hour to my parents' house and I popped them back in the oven for another 5 or so minutes, just to reheat them.

And.

They.

Were.

A.

HIT!!!

Everyone seemed to like them. I saw a couple people going back for seconds. A few people mentioned that they were really good. And my best compliment of the night was when my mom told me, "You're becoming quite the chef!" That might be taking it a little far, but I'll gladly accept it!

And not to be outdone, my mom put out quite a spread. A few other family members brought some delicious items as well. I'm surprised I didn't gain 10 lbs!!

And that's not even all of the food!!!

Notice a little something in there? Well, besides Quinn's head...

My niece begged me to make these.

I made a tiny batch of Bacon Wrapped Weenies. My niece texted me the night before and asked me if I could make these for the party. I was only too glad, considering they're extremely easy. I only made one package of weenies and I didn't use the butter this time. They still came out great and everyone still loved them.

This party turned out to be a great party! I'll take any excuse to hang out with family (well except for helping anyone move. If you're moving, I'm busy that day! Haha).

My siblings and I are all adults and even half of my nieces and nephews are adults. We all have our own schedules and lives and it sucks that it gets tougher and tougher to get together as time goes on. I'm really glad we had the chance to do this! And you know what? While we were there, we got more freakin' snow!! Haha!! At least it was less than a foot for once!

I love you guys!! Let's do this again for St. Patrick's Day!