Pesto Chicken Stuffed Shells

You will need to be careful with these. These shells are so delicious and perfectly bite-sized that you may have to physically stop yourself from eating them. Like I had to. This recipe from Joelen is super simple, albeit a little time consuming to fill all of the shells. It was completely worth the effort. I couldn't find the really jumbo pasta shells, so I used the biggest shells I could find, which are just the large shells - I think. I used about 2 cups of shells so whatever size shells you find, about 2 cups should do it. I did have a few leftover, but a few of them ripped so it all worked out. I served a green salad with ours to balance all the cheesiness...and to keep myself from eating the whole pan.

Pesto Chicken Stuffed Shells
Adapted from: Joelen

2 cups large pasta shells
water for boiling pasta

2 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
4oz reduced fat cream cheese, softened
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese + 1/4 cup for topping
3 tbs prepared pesto

3 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup panko breadcrumbs

1. In a large pot over high heat, boil water and prepare pasta shells as directed on package. Cook pasta shells only until al dente. The pasta will finish cooking when the dish is baked. Drain the pasta shells and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients, except the 1/4 cup of cheese for the topping. Fill the pasta shells with the filling and place in a baking dish.  Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of cheese over filled shells. Sprinkle with panko breadcrumbs.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake shells uncovered for 25-30 minutes or until shells are bubbling hot and cheese melts.