This recipe is comfort food in its purest form. Slightly spicy ground beef tacos combined with just al dente pasta, covered with melty oozy cheese, and topped with whatever makes you happy. I love tacos in any form, but this might just be my favorite. I’ve been making this dish for well over a decade now, and it never fails to receive rave reviews and requests for the recipes. It makes a ton, so there are almost always leftovers. It can be modified to fit spiciness level preferences. It’s not a healthy recipe by any stretch, so I try not to make it weekly, which would be my preference (nightly, if we’re being honest, and hourly if we’re being even more honest), but I think for a nice chilly evening, these would be just the ticket. You can also make them ahead of time and refrigerate for a day or two covered in foil, which makes them a perfect weeknight meal. If you do that, I would recommend not putting the salsa down first.

Taco Stuffed Shells

• 1 small onion or ½ a large onion, diced

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• 1 pound ground beef - 85% or higher

• 1 (1 ounce) packet of taco seasoning

• ⅔ cup water

• 4 ounces cream cheese, cubed

• 1 cup frozen corn kernels

• 30 jumbo pasta shells (you’ll really only need about 24-26, but I recommend cooking extra, because some of them always tear.)

• 1 jar of the salsa of your choice (figure out size)

• 1 cup of taco sauce

• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

• 1 mini bag of Fritos, crushed

Toppings:

• Avocado

• Pickled red onion

• Green onions

• Sour cream

• Jalapenos

To Make:

1. Using a large skillet, sauté diced onion in olive oil, 3-5 minutes until translucent. Add the beef, and sauté until no longer pink. Once browned, add the taco seasoning and stir until the beef is coated. Stir for a few minutes to let the spices toast a bit. Add the water, and cook 1-2 minutes or until mostly evaporated. Add the cream cheese a few cubes at a time, stirring after each addition, until fully incorporated with the beef. Add the corn kernels (no need to defrost - they’ll cook fully in the beef).

2. Remove beef mixture from skillet, placing in a bowl or on a plate to cool down enough to touch.

3. Preheat oven to 350 (you may want to do this earlier - everyone’s oven is different, and you know best how long your oven takes to come to temperature)

4. While the beef is cooking, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, and cook the pasta shells a minute or two less than the package directions. Once done, drain and rinse under cold water to make sure they’re cool enough to handle.

5. In a 9x13 baking dish, spread the contents of the jar of salsa in a thin layer on the bottom.

6. Using a spoon, fill each of the shells with 2-3 tablespoons of the beef mixture, placing the shells into the baking dish as you go.

7. Drizzle the taco sauce over the tops of the shells,

8. Bake, covered with foil for 30 minutes.

9. Remove the dish from the oven, and top the shells with the crushed Fritos and shredded cheese, and put back in the oven, uncovered for another 10 minutes, or until the cheese is melted.

10. Serve with your choice of toppings.

Yum