"Treasure stuffed shells" -sneaky stuffed shells

kThis is what I made yesterday out of The sneaky Chef to the rescue.  I was a bit worried about it because it had a large dose of puree and the puree contained zucchini which DH does not like.  I did do some massive re-vamping to this because it looked like it was going to be extremely bland.  It had no type of seasonings in it whatsoever, just tomato sauce, cheese and puree.  Well, I knew I wouldn't like that so I spiced it up a good deal. When discussing that with DH at dinner his comment was "you spiced this up, I thought it was kind of bland.  Other than lacking a tiny bit in the flavor department, it was good.  I could make it again - everyone seemed to like them - except of course for picky 2 year old who wouldn't touch them even tough I just gave him red sauce and noodles - but the noodles didn't look like spaghetti so they were spurned.  Still not sure how that child grows.
I also doubled the recipe in the book.  That worked out perfectly for the amount of sauce I made.  Here is what I did - with some notes for next time - For the red sauce - I just used my pizza sauce recipe from my Peter Reinhart book - very basic though - I'd probably go a bit heavier on the Italian seasonings next time.

Red Sauce

• 1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper (probably up to 1/2 next time)
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• (next time add Italian seasoning - up to 1 Tablespoon)
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice (or 2 of either - we just like the flavor of 1 of each the best.)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt - I think I forgot this - that would definitely have helped

Directions

1. Mix all ingredients together in a bowl

White Puree

• 2 cups cauliflower florets
• 2 small to medium zucchini, peeled and coarsely chopped
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Directions

1. Stem the cauliflower for about 10 minutes -until very tender.  Drain.
2. Meanwhile, place the zucchini in a food processor with the lemon juice and process until well chopped.
3. When cauliflower is done, add it to the food processor and puree until smooth - adding 1-2 Tablespoons of water if necessary (I didn't need it.)

Stuffed Shells Ingredients

• 1 box large pasta shells (I did not use the entire package.  Some were broken when cooked, and I stuffed a few with plain mozzarella)
• 1 cup ricotta (I used fat free)
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 1/2 cups white puree (above)
• 1/2 cup egg substitute
• 6 Tablespoons wheat germ
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning (could probably add another teaspoon or 2 depending on what you add to the sauce)
• 1 recipe red sauce (above)
• 1 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese (I didn't measure.  Just put on a nice amount.)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350.  Spray a 10 X 15 pan with cooking spray.  
2. Cook shells according to package directions until slightly firm.  Drain and set aside. 
3. Meanwhile, mix ricotta, Parmesan cheese, 1/2 cup of the white puree, egg substitute, Italian seasoning and wheat germ in a bowl. \
4. Combine tomato sauce with remaining White Puree in another bowl.
5. Pour about 1 1/2 cups of the red sauce mixture onto the bottom of the 10 X 15.  Fill shells with about a Tablespoon of white sauce.  Place on top of red sauce in the dish.  Top shells with remaining red sauce then the mozzarella cheese.
6. Cover with foil.  Bake 20 minutes, uncover and bake for an additional 10 minutes or until the top is lightly browned.