Celebrate National Pasta Day 10/17 with Classico Giveaway & Review

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National Pasta Day is October 17, and the team at CLASSICO wants to help you pay tribute to the perfection of pasta! In the spirit of the occasion, they challenged us to break away from the same old standard spaghetti and create a delicious new dish featuring Classico sauce that I can share with you.    
Classico Seasonal Selections, new pasta sauces are crafted from premium ingredients to celebrate the flavors of the seasons. Creamy Spinach & Parmesan is the selection for the fall and winter months. They've combined spinach, tomatoes and Parmesan cheese with a little cream, to create a sauce that's perfect for enhancing fall and winter favorites. This is a limited time offer, so get some it while it lasts! And be sure to look for a new Classico Seasonal Selections flavor for the spring and summer months.
 

I choose to accept their National Pasta Day Challenge, and was sent a “Classico Creations” starter kit which included:
- Classico Seasonal Selections® Creamy Spinach & Parmesan
- Two VIP Classico coupons
- Exclusive recipes from Classico
- Pasta pot
- Pasta serving tongs
- Cheese grater


Here is a recipe inspired by a lasagna I recently made, for stuffed shells. I made my portions gluten free, being sure the sausage was gluten free, this Classico Seasonal Selections Creamy Spinach & Parmesan sauce is already gluten free and I used Tinkyada pasta shells. I'm glad I grated the zucchini up, and the spinach wilted down to about nothing. There are picky green eaters in my family, and I didn't hear one whine, so yay me!

Spinach and Chicken Sausage Stuffed Shells

2 TBL olive oil
1 pound mild Italian chicken sausage links, casings removed
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 small yellow onion, grated
1 small zucchini, grated
2 cups fresh spinach, torn
2 TBL fresh basil, cut
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups lowfat cottage cheese
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 TBL dried parsley
8 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese
25-28 large pasta shells (or gluten free pasta)
1 jar Classico Seasonal Selections Creamy Spinach and Parmesan sauce

Cook pasta according to package. Prepare a baking dish with nonstick spray, and place a large spoonful of Classico sauce in the bottom of the dish. Heat oven to 350'.

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat 2 TBL olive oil. Add chicken sausage, onion, garlic, pepper and salt. Allow to cook until sausage is almost done, being chicken it cooks quickly. Add in zucchini and spinach and cook until spinach is wilted. Season with pepper and fresh basil, remove from heat.

In a small bowl, combine the cottage cheese, egg, parmesan and parsley.
Spoon about 2 TBL of sausage mixture into each cooked pasta shell, add a small spoonful of cottage cheese mixture and top with a little sauce over each. Sprinkle with mozzarella. (I also used an Italian seasoning over mine).
Bake covered at 350' for 30 minutes.

finely shredded zucchini (this grater is grate!)

 

my gluten free stuffed shells (lunches for the next couple days)

 

 

My giveaway is for FIVE readers, who will win one freebie coupon each:
a Rafflecopter giveaway


*Disclosure* I wrote this review for "Mommy? I'm Hungry!" about Classico. I’ve partnered with Classico and received product, coupons, premium items and reader giveaway coupons as part of my participation. However, no payment was given or expected for posting about the program, and as always, all opinions given here are fully my own. Product info provided by PR or Co. Thank you Classico!