Dinner for 2

I was speculating on what a good Valentine's Dinner would be and I decided that you really can't beat homemade Italian... So here is a menu for a good and fairly easy meal.

Stuffed Shells
Elise's Parmesan Bread sticks
Salad
Italian Love Cake

Stuffed Shells

1 box uncooked lg shells or manicotti
1 jar spaghetti sauce
16 ounces ricotta cheese
1 cup mozzarella cheese
1 cup Parmesan cheese
5oz frozen spinach, thawed
1 pinch fennel
2 garlic cloves, diced
1/2 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon oregano
salt
1 lb Italian sausage or 1 lb ground beef

In a large sauce pan, pan fry the diced garlic in a splash of olive oil until browned. Mix in the ground beef and Italian sausage, cook thoroughly. (optional: remove sausage skin and blend into ground beef). Add spaghetti sauce, oregano and basil. Simmer. In a large pot, bring water to a boil and cook shells according to package directions. In a large bowl, combine ricotta, mozzarella, and spinach. Salt to taste. When shells are cooked, drain hot water and run cold water on cooked shells to stop the cooking process. Spread a light layer of sauce on the bottom of a large deep baking dish. Using a narrow spoon, spoon cheese mixture in to shells and place into the baking dish. Cover with remaining sauce and sprinkle Parmesan on top. Bake in oven covered with foil at 400 F for 40 minutes. Let cool before serving.

Elise's Parmesan Bread sticks

My roommate Elise introduced to us these amazing bread sticks in 2004.

1 packet or 1 Tbsp yeast
1 1/2 cup warm water
3 cups flour
1 tsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt

Mix water and yeast together until dissolved. Add sugar. Salt Add flour 1 cup at a time mixing with a fork until dough has formed. Knead until well mixed and allow to rise 20 minutes. While rising melt 1 stick butter on a cookie sheet while pre-heating oven to 375 degrees. Roll out dough and cut into strips with a pizza cutter. Place strips on buttery pan allowing butter to run over each bread stick. Sprinkle with Parmesan or cinnamon-sugar mix. Bake for 20 minutes until brown.

Italian Love Cake

this recipe was introduced to me by my CNA instructor in 2002.

1 package chocolate cake mix
2 pints part-skim ricotta cheese
3/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 eggs
1 package instant chocolate pudding mix
1 cup milk
1 container frozen whipped topping, thawed

1. Prepare cake mix as directed on box. Pour batter into 9 x 13 greased baking dish. Set aside.
2. Combine ricotta cheese, sugar, vanilla, and eggs. Blend well. Spread mixture evenly over the top of the cake batter.
3. Bake at 350 degrees for 75 minutes if using a glass baking dish, 90 minutes if using a metal pan.
4. Blend pudding mix and milk until thickened. Blend in whipped topping. Spread over cooled cake.

mmm typing this up makes me hungry and want to watch Under the Tuscan Sun!