Stuffed Shells

     A bright fluorescent light flickers over a cramped room. The stove roars to life feeding the bubbling water and sizzling meat above. People sneak and conceal themselves behind walls, hiding like trolls under bridges. They stare down a single man directing this food symphony. He works an assembly line, stuffing pasta shells with a delicious concoction of meat and cheese. Hot plates and silverware clatter onto the counter. One waft from the finished product is enough to change the hoard of trolls back into a loving family. Laughing, jokes, and compliments travel across the room as they eat together. Stuffed shells are so much more than flimsy noodles crammed with cheese and meat, stuff shells are what bring love and unity back to my family.

    Nothing is more meaningful than someone making a dish specifically for you. If you walk into any diner or Sports bar chances are there is a dish named after someone on the menu. A Chef put all their effort into creating a unique combination of ingredients with a special person in mind. Then they clear a spot on a large laminated booklet and slap that person’s name inside. People eat food named after famous people all the time, not necessarily because the food is Michelin star worthy but because it is centered around a person we all collectively love. Stuffed Shells is by no means an award-winning dish, but to my family and I it is. My grandmother was the one who started the stuffed shell craze, “Having had a similar dish at a work meeting” (Lowe). She enjoyed it so much she went home and recreated it, this time with her son in mind. My grandmother loved my dad so much she decided to cater the recipe to his taste, eliminating foods he did not care for and adding in his favorites. She ended up with “pizza in a shell” (Lowe) as my father so often likes to describe it. Not only did my father love the dish, he still makes it for my family today

   Food doesn’t have to be a burden. Eating out is a pretty popular thing to do when you do not feel like cooking. Some people survive only on take-out food. The problem is those habits become costly and impractical solutions. Stuffed shells are a practical dish for my family and me. My grandmother was a working mom trying to take care of her son so having food cost-effective food options was important. On stuffed shells nights there is never just one tray. Forty plus Pasta shells are meticulously laid in two to three trays worth of food. Similar to Thanksgiving turkey, Stuffed shells are made knowing the entire family will be eating leftovers for the next few days. For “20-25 dollars depending on sales” (Lowe) My family of four can eat for days. When you have two growing children to feed that is a great price.

    Food has an amazing ability to bring people closer. Growing up people usually ask, “Were you a mama or a daddy’s girl?”. To this day it’s still a hard question for me to answer. My mother and I are very close. We look the same, we talk the same, seeing us together is like an episode of the twilight zone come to life. My dad and I, on the other hand, have a more complex relationship. We are both the silent type and have a hard time expressing our emotions. One of the things we share is our “food taste” (Lowe) specifically our love for pizza and pasta. I can always count on spending time with my dad is when he’s making stuffed shells. He knows I love the dish and lets me hover around the kitchen and talk to him while he makes it. Talking with my dad while he stuffs the noodles is the greatest therapy session I could ever have. He breaks a shell, I eat the shell and repeat. By the end of it I can sit and eat with him and the rest of my family with a feeling of togetherness I wouldn’t trade for the world.

   Stuffed shells are my favorite meal because it brings my family and me together. A single meal has the power to change a person’s life. Everyone out there has a dish that helps connect them with others. Everyone out there has a dish that means something to them. Everyone has a time they treasure, and my treasure is stuffed shells night.

Stuffed Shells

Ingredients:

1lb ground beef

1lb mild Italian sausage

1 package of pepperoni

1 jar of pasta sauce [season to taste, oregano]

1lb shredded mozzarella cheese

1lb of fresh mozzarella pearls

1 box of jumbo shells.

Directions:

Cook ground beef and Italian sausage and drain excess grease.

Boil 1 box of jumbo shells and drain.

Line bottom of the pan with a layer of pasta sauce.

Place one pearl of mozzarella and 1 slice of pepperoni in the shell then add the mixture of ground beef and Italian sausage and place in pan. Continue until you have filled the pan with shells. Cover top of shells with shredded mozzarella and then lightly drizzle remaining pasta sauce on top. Place in oven at 325 for 20 minutes and then serve.