Mexican Stuffed Shells

When I saw that a message board to which I belong was doing a recipe swap with the theme of pasta, I figured it was time to give it a try again.  I couldn't possibly have been more thrilled than I was when I received Mexican Stuffed Shells from Jaida at Sweet Beginnings; it looked like it would be perfect for my family and definitely something I'd never have considered making on my own... but should have!

When I went to the store, I looked at the taco sauce ingredients and thought, "Self, you can totally make this at home."  So I went to the internet and came across this taco sauce, which was way cheaper than what I'd have bought at the store.  I also used  taco seasoning I made; no packet!

My husband commented that it tasted much better when he ate it with the sour cream, that he liked the creaminess.  This could have been because of my having used turkey which made it drier than if I'd used beef?

Thank you so much to Sarah for hosting; check out her blog for the Roundup!

Mexican Stuffed Shells Source:  Sweet Beginnings

Ingredients

• 1 lb. ground turkey
• 2T taco seasoning 
• 4 oz. Neufchatel cream cheese
• 14-16 jumbo pasta shells
• 1.5 cup salsa
• 1 cup taco sauce (I accidentally used the whole thing)
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 cup shredded Mexican cheese
• 3 green onions
• Sour cream
• Black olives

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. In a frying pan cook ground turkey; add taco seasoning and 1 cup of water and simmer until liquid is almost gone.  Add cream cheese, cover and simmer until cheese is melted. Blend well. Set aside and cool completely. 
3. While ground turkeyis cooking, cook the pasta shells according to directions; drain. Set shells out individually on cutting board/baking sheet so that they don’t stick together.
4. Pour salsa on bottom of 9×13 baking dish.  Stuff each shell with the meat mixture. Place shells in 9×13 pan open side up. Cover shells with taco sauce.  Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
5. After 30 minutes, add shredded cheese and bake for 10-15 more minutes, with the foil removed.  Top with any condiments you’d like (green onions, black olives, etc.) Serve with sour cream and/or more salsa.