Shells with Spinach. Also, Bacon.

I rarely follow recipes exactly. I love to tweak ingredients. Most of my adjustments involve adding items we love to something (e.g., crisp pieces of bacon mixed into pancake batter) or, substituting healthy alternatives (whole wheat flour instead of white flour). Some adjustments are just necessary.

Before having The Ticking Time Bomb, I would take my sweet time in the grocery store. Which five apples are the best in this pile? Should I get vanilla bean or French vanilla ice cream? I forgot to get mozzarella; I better mosey back to the other side of the store to get it...

Now, I'm lucky if I manage to get to the store, much less purchase half the items on my list. Needless to say, I don't always have every ingredient needed for a recipe.

Last night, we needed something for supper that was not leftover pulled pork for the third meal in a row. We had a large container of fresh spinach I wanted to use before it went bad. I was also craving pasta. I looked through some cook books to see what I could make that combined spinach and pasta. In addition to spinach, we had whole wheat pasta shells, Parmesan, butter, salt, and pepper- four of the nine ingredients in Baked Shells with Fresh Spinach and Pancetta. Never mind the other ingredients- including one in the recipe's title- I just used other items I had that seemed to fit.

My version of the recipe- listed after the original below- turned out well. The tasty sauce clinging to the shells and the gooey cheese topping were a great combination.

Here is the recipe from pages 94 and 95 of PASTA from Food and Wine Books published in 1994 by American Express Publishing Corp.
Ingredients
3 Tablespoons butter
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
6 Tablespoons tomato puree (tomato puree is like tomato sauce without the added spices)
6 Tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 lb pancetta, cut into small dice
3/4 lb fresh spinach
3/4 lb medium pasta shells


In a medium saucepan, bring 2 T butter, the heavy cream and tomato puree to a boil. Reduce the heat to moderately low and simmer until reduced to 1 1/4 cups, about 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in 3 T Parmesan, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper.
In a large frying pan, melt 1 T butter over moderately high heat. Add the pancetta and cook until slightly crisp, about 3 minutes. Add the spinach in batches and cook, tossing until wilted. Season with the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper.
Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 2 quart shallow baking dish. In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the shells until almost tender, but slightly underdone, about 8 minutes. Drain.
Combine the tomato sauce, spinach, and shells. Transfer to baking dish and top with remaining Parmesan. Bake until very hot, 15 minutes.

Here is my variation on the dish.

Ingredients
2 Tablespoons butter
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 15oz can tomato sauce
6 Tablespoons Parmesan
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
4 pieces bacon
3/4 lb fresh spinach
3/4 lb medium whole wheat pasta shells
2 pieces mozzarella string cheese, strung


In a medium saucepan, bring 2 T butter, the milk and tomato sauce to a boil. Reduce the heat to moderately low and simmer until reduced and slightly thickened, about 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in 3 T Parmesan, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper.
In a large frying pan, fry the bacon until crisp. Remove to paper towels to drain. Cool and crumble. Drain bacon grease from frying pan and return to stove over moderately low heat. Add the spinach in batches and cook, tossing until wilted. Season with the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper.
Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Have ready a deep dish baker- my Pampered Chef baker is seasoned and needs no butter. In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the shells until almost tender, but slightly underdone, 8 minutes. Drain.

Combine the tomato sauce, spinach, bacon and shells. Transfer to baking dish and top with remaining Parmesan and mozzarella string cheese. Bake until very hot, 15 minutes.

FTC-mandated disclosure: I have received no valuable consideration in exchange for any of the products mentioned in this post.