Get creative with dinner! Serve your family these cheesy pasta shells arranged with meatballs to resemble monster faces – perfect if you like Italian cuisine.
Cheesy Monster Eyes
- Prep Time 35 min
- Total 1 hr 30 min
- Ingredients 11
- Servings 6
Ingredients
- 18 jumbo pasta shells (from 12-oz package)
- 1 jar (26 to 28 oz) tomato pasta sauce
- 1 egg, slightly beaten
- 1 container (15 oz) ricotta cheese
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (4 oz)
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 teaspoons dried basil leaves
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 18 frozen cooked Italian-style meatballs (from 16-oz bag)
- 4 to 6 pitted ripe olives, sliced
- Red bell pepper, lettuce, sugar snap peas, green grapes, and green onions if desired
Instructions
-
Step1Heat oven to 350°F. Spray bottom only of 13x9-inch (3-quart) glass baking dish with cooking spray. Cook pasta as directed on package; drain. Rinse with cold water to cool; drain well.
-
Step2Meanwhile, reserve 1 tablespoon pasta sauce; pour remaining sauce into baking dish. In medium bowl, mix egg, ricotta, mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses, the basil and garlic powder.
-
Step3Fill each cooked pasta shell with about 2 tablespoons cheese mixture. Arrange filled shells, cheese mixture up, in dish over sauce. Press 1 meatball into cheese mixture in each shell to resemble eye.
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Step4Bake 45 to 50 minutes or until bubbly. Let stand 5 minutes before serving. Use drop of reserved pasta sauce to attach ripe olive slice to each meatball to resemble pupil of eye. To create a face, arrange eyes on each plate with red pepper mouth, grape nose, lettuce and sugar snap peas eyebrows and green onion hair.
Nutrition
630
Calories
28g
Total Fat
38g
Protein
57g
Total Carbohydrate
12g
Sugars
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size: 1 Serving
- Calories
- 630
- Calories from Fat
- 250
- Total Fat
- 28g
- 43%
- Saturated Fat
- 12g
- 60%
- Trans Fat
- 1g
- Cholesterol
- 160mg
- 53%
- Sodium
- 1500mg
- 62%
- Potassium
- 800mg
- 23%
- Total Carbohydrate
- 57g
- 19%
- Dietary Fiber
- 4g
- 15%
- Sugars
- 12g
- Protein
- 38g
% Daily Value*:
- Vitamin A
- 30%
- 30%
- Vitamin C
- 15%
- 15%
- Calcium
- 50%
- 50%
- Iron
- 25%
- 25%
Exchanges:
3 Starch; 0 Fruit; 1 Other Carbohydrate; 0 Skim Milk; 0 Low-Fat Milk; 0 Milk; 0 Vegetable; 0 Very Lean Meat; 0 Lean Meat; 0 High-Fat Meat; 1 Fat;Carbohydrate Choice
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