Spinach and Cheese Stuffed Pasta

The first time I had this Aromatic Dish was in an Italian Restaurant; the first restaurant that I have been in US. At times, I am not a big fan of Italian food, but this one made me crazy from the very first bite....................recently the idea of experimenting this dish flashed in my mind, I searched the net and got the recipe from All Recipes, which I have cut and paste below.............It turned out really delicious......

Ingredients:

32 jumbo pasta shells, 2 cups ricotta cheese, 2 (10 ounce) packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained, 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese, 2tablespoons fennel seeds, 2 teaspoons dried basil, 4 cloves garlic, minced, salt and pepper to taste, 3 1/2 cups spaghetti sauce.

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Bring a large pot of salted water to boil, gently place pasta shells in boiling water; bring water back to boil. Cook until noodles are just tender; drain well.
Squeeze spinach dry. Combine spinach, ricotta, 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, fennel, basil and garlic in a large mixing bowl. Season with salt and pepper; mix well.
Spread 1/2 cup marinara sauce evenly over the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish.
Fill each pasta shell with the spinach cheese mixture. Arrange the shells, filling side up in the baking dish. Spoon remaining marinara sauce over the shells. Sprinkle remaining Parmesan cheese on top of the shells.
Cover the pan loosely with aluminum foil and bake in preheated oven until heated through; about 30 minutes.

Pasta

Bruschetta

Ingredients:

6 or 7 ripe plum tomatoes
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
6-8 fresh basil leaves, chopped.
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 baguette French bread

1/4 cup olive oil

Prepare the tomatoes first.Blanch the tomatoes. Using a sharp small knife, remove the skins of the tomatoes. Once the tomatoes are peeled, cut them in quarters and remove the seeds and juice from their centers,use plum tomatoes instead of regular tomatoes as there are fewer seeds and less juice. Turn on the oven to 450°F to preheat,While the oven is heating, chop up the tomatoes finely. Put tomatoes, garlic, 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil in a bowl and mix. Add the chopped basil. Add salt and pepper to taste. Slice the baguette on a diagonal about 1/2 inch thick slices. Coat one side of each slice with olive oil using a pastry brush. Place on a cooking sheet, olive oil side down. Once the oven has reached 450°F, place a tray of bread slices in the oven on the top rack. Toast for 5-6 minutes, until the bread just begins to turn golden brown. Rub some garlic in the slices and drizzle half a teaspoon of olive oil on each slice. This is the more traditional method of making bruschetta, arrange the bread on a serving platter, place topping on each slice of bread and serve.