This recipe started from a Pinterest recipe for Mexican Stuffed Shells from The Girl Who Ate Everything.   As you know if you have read any of my other posts or recipes I tweak my cooking to what I have on hand and what I know my family will eat.  I loved the idea of this recipe but knew I needed to change it up a bit for us.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 tsp. cumin
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp. coriander
• 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes, if desired
• 1/2 small diced onion
• salt and black pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup of water
• 15 oz. can rinsed black beans
• 16 oz. can of corn – drained
• 16 jumbo pasta shells
• 1 1/2 cups salsa
• 1 cup taco sauce
• 1 cup cheddar cheese
• 1 cup Monterrey jack cheese

• Green onions, sliced
• Olives
• Salsa
• Sour cream

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. In a pan brown the ground beef.   Drain off any excess fat from the bottom of the frying pan.  Stir in water, cumin, coriander, garlic powder, red pepper flakes, dried onion, salt and pepper.  Stir together and mix well.  Taste and adjust seasonings to your liking.  Add black beans and corn;  stir well.  Taste and adjust seasonings if needed.  Let slowly simmer for about 5 minutes until all of the water has evaporated.
3. While ground beef is cooking, cook the pasta shells according to package directions; drain. Set shells out on a cutting board or baking sheet so that they don’t stick together.
4. Pour salsa on bottom of a 9×13 baking dish. Stuff each shell with 1-2 tablespoons of the meat mixture. Place shells in 9×13 pan open side up. Evenly cover shells with taco sauce. Cover dish 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.   Serve with toppings as desired.

This was a good recipe.  Not off the chart knock your socks off great but a decent recipe that is easy to throw together early on a busy day.  I placed my stuffed shells in the pan and covered it with aluminum foil and placed it in the refrigerator until we arrived home after school.

Next time I will add a bit more salsa to the bottom of the pan if I plan on letting them sit as I noticed it seems to soak in a bit to the shells and there wasn’t much on the bottom of the pan when I cooked them.