You will need:
-A box of shells
-one onion diced
-a bunch of garlic minced
-one tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
-pancetta one cup chopped
-large can of diced tomatoes
-fresh basil chiffinaded (Is that right? Or is it a chiffinade of basil?)
-One box of spinach (chopped variety, thaw it and squeeze out the excess water)
-One tub of ricotta (the smaller one, not the large one)
-1/2 cup of Parmesan (I probably added a cup...)
-1/2 cup of shredded Italian cheese mix (the more cheese the merrier)
-2 eggs, beaten
-salt
-pepper
-Mozzarella or Italian shreds to top your masterpiece with--about 1 1/2 cups
Preheat oven to 350 F and prepare a 9X13 baking pan (and by prepare, I mean spray down with cooking spray).
Start a big pot of water to boil and salt it. While waiting for that to boil, in a medium sized pot, heat the pot to medium high, add olive oil and then pancetta. You want to render the fat of the pancetta and allow the porky goodness to brown. Dump in the onion and cook until translucent, then stir in the garlic and cook for a minute or two longer. Season with salt. Add in your can of tomatoes and simmer.
Mix together the spinach and the cheeses and combine well (I know this seems redundant, but make sure they are mixed). Taste your mixture and add salt and pepper to taste. Stir in your eggs.
The water should be boiling at this point, dump in your pasta and cook according to the directions on the box (it should take about ten minutes). When done, drain and set aside (or dump into your baking pan that has cooking spray--it not only prevents a messy cleanup but also prevents pasta from sticking, just make sure it is well drained).
To finish the sauce, puree the sauce with a stick blender leaving it mostly chunky and stir in basil.
Now to put it all together, grab a shell and insert a generous spoonful of spinach filling. Arrange your shells open side up and in one layer. Repeat until your baking pan is full. Pour your sauce over the top being careful to pour it over all of the shells.
Top with cheese and cover your masterpiece with tinfoil. Set your timer for 50 minutes. For brown and crispy top, take the foil off during the last 15 minutes.
By the way, the sauce is my default sauce and the filling works in a pinch for ravioli.
