Spinach Turkey Pasta Bake

Baked pasta dishes are a real comfort meal for me.  I love how versatile they can be and how easy it is to throw some veggies in there and pretend it's healthy.

















This pasta bake is something I made the other night using stuff that I almost always have in the house.  It made a huge casserole dish full and now I have lunches for tomorrow and frozen sections for dinner later.

Spinach Turkey Pasta Bake:

1 box ziti, baked al dente
1 package ground turkey
1 box frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1 onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 container reduced fat ricotta cheese
2 cups reduced fat mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/2 - 3/4 jar pasta sauce (or homemade)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon salt (if you like saltier things add more salt, I tend to under salt)
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, optional
1 teaspoon olive oil

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and heat a skillet over medium high heat.

Heat the olive oil in the skillet and add the ground turkey, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes.  Brown the turkey and add the diced onion and garlic.  Once the onion starts to get soft add the spinach.

In a medium bowl add the cooked pasta, browned turkey mixture, pasta sauce, ricotta cheese, and 1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese.

Pour the pasta mixture into a casserole dish and top with the remaining shredded cheese.  Bake for about 20 minutes or until the cheese on top is nice and melted.

Lighter Eggplant Parmesan

Happy Meatless Monday!!

This is the recipe that led me to pick up some eggplant at the farmer's market.  I figured that if I was going to try eggplant I should dump a bunch of cheese on it.  How bad can that be?  It was pretty dang good.

The one thing I was missing in this recipe was some different texture.  I think in a traditional Eggplant Parmesan the fried eggplant adds some crispiness to the dish.  Since I don't need to eat fried eggplant covered in cheese I'll stick with this lighter version.

Lighter Eggplant Parmesan:
(adapted from Skinnytaste- 8 WW pts)

1 large eggplant (2 lbs)
1 tbsp olive oil
12 oz fat free ricotta
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp Pecorino Romano
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1 medium egg
2 cups reduced fat mozzarella
3 cups tomato sauce
1 yellow tomato, seeded and roughly chopped or a hand full of small tomatoes
1 small white onion, diced
salt

Slice the eggplant into 1/4 inch thick slices. Lightly salt the slices and put in a colander to release excess moisture for about 1/2 hour. Lay on paper towels to soak up any extra moisture.























Preheat oven to 450°. Brush eggplant lightly with olive oil on both sides and place on cookie sheets. Bake for 20-25 minutes, turning half way through until eggplant is golden brown.

In a medium bowl combine ricotta, egg, parsley and 1/4 cup of grated cheese.

In a 9x12 baking dish, put a little sauce on the bottom of the dish and put a layer of eggplant to cover the bottom of the dish. Top with 1/3 of the ricotta cheese mixture, mozzarella cheese and sauce. Add 1/3 of the chopped tomatoes and onions.  Repeat the process twice with more eggplant, vegetables, and cheese.  Top with sauce and the mozzarella cheese and the remaining grated cheese.

Cover with foil and bake until cheese is melted and everything is bubbling, about 30 minutes at 400°. Remove foil and bake an additional 8-10 minutes. Take it out of the oven and let it sit about 10 minutes before cutting.

Stuffed Mushroom Marinara

I made stuffed mushrooms a couple of weeks ago for Meatless Monday.  While we were eating them Mr. T said that he'd love to try them with some red sauce.  We talked it out and this is what we came up with.

These were delicious!  The stuffing would also make a great stuffing for pasta (I'm thinking stuffed shells might be in my future).  Here's my advice on how much marinara sauce to actually use.  You don't want the spinach mixture to be floating around in sauce but everything still needs to be moist.  Start out with half a cup or so of sauce, mix it all together and add more if you need to.

If you're looking for a vegan option leave the cheese off.  It's still good.

Stuffed Mushroom Marinara:

4 large portobello mushrooms, gills removed
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus some to drizzle
1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced

1 box frozen, chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed as dry as possible
1 cup marinara sauce
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano

salt and pepper
4 slices provolone cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Heat a skillet over medium high heat.  Add 1 tablespoon olive oil.  When the oil is hot add the onion.  Once the onion starts to brown add the garlic and carrots.  Let everything cook for about a minute and add the spinach.  Let the spinach mixture cook for an additional minute or so (I let them cook while I took the gills out of the mushrooms) and add the marinara sauce, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and dried oregano.  Stir to combine.


Brush each mushroom cap with a little olive oil and begin to stuff them.

Once each mushroom is as full as you'd like it to be place them on a baking sheet and place one slice of provolone cheese on top of each mushroom cap.  Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the cheese is nice and bubbly.

Lighter Chicken Broccoli Alfredo

I have a soft spot for pasta with alfredo sauce on it.  It's so good.  Pasta dishes are great ways to get vegetable into people too.

This is a lighter pasta dish but it was delicious.  The broccoli was tasty and the alfredo sauce got soaked up in all of the little nooks of it and the pasta.  This also makes a great lunch the next day.

Broccoli Chicken Alfredo:

Ingredients:

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, grilled and cut into chunks (about 2 cups)

2 cups roasted broccoli florets

8 ounces whole wheat pasta, I used rotini
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 teaspoons minced garlic

2 tablespoons flour

1 cup fat-free, low sodium chicken broth

1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt

1/4 cup skim milk

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 pinch ground nutmeg

3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

In a pot of boiling, salted water, cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside.

In a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium-low heat. Add garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until the garlic is golden, 1 to 2 minutes.

Whisk in the flour until smooth, about 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in the chicken broth, Greek yogurt, milk, pepper and nutmeg. Bring to a low boil, stirring constantly. Lower the heat and simmer, stirring gently, until the mixture thickens, about 3 minutes. Stir in 3/4 cup Parmesan.

Add cooked chicken and broccoli to sauce mixture, followed by the cooked pasta. Toss to combine and serve with more Parmesan, if desired.

Basic Pizza Sauce

Since pizza night is pretty common in our house we go through a lot of pizza sauce.  I have my homemade pizza dough recipe down but I really hadn't tried to make pizza sauce.  I just happened to have a couple of cans of tomatoes in my panty and decided to try this recipe out while my dough was rising.

Pizza Sauce:
(adapted from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook)

1/4 cup olive oil
2- 28 ounce cans of whole, peeled tomatoes
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, diced
1 1/2 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
salt
pepper

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat.  Add the onion and garlic, cook for a minute.  Crush the tomatoes over the pan.  Add the Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper.

Cook over medium-low heat for 40-50 minutes, breaking up the tomatoes as it cooks.

Chicken Rollatini with Spinach alla Parmigiana

I'm trying new recipes!  Yay for me. 

This is a recipe from Gina's Skinny Taste blog.  I didn't wrap my chicken because I didn't get any chicken cutlets this week.  I just cut into a regular chicken breast and stuffed it with the spinach.  It probably made a difference as far as the points are concerned so take that into account when shopping/making this. 


















Chicken Rollatini with Spinach alla Parmigiana:
(Gina's Weight Watcher Recipes)

Servings: 8
Points: 4 pts • Points+: 5 pts

8 thin chicken cutlets, 3 oz each
1/2 cup whole wheat Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese, divided
6 tablespoons egg whites or egg beaters
5 oz frozen spinach, squeezed dry of any liquid
6 tbsp part skim ricotta cheese
6 oz part skim mozzarella
Olive oil non-stick spray
1 cup pomodoro sauce or your favorite marinara sauce
salt and pepper to taste

Wash and dry cutlets, season with salt and pepper.  Preheat oven to 450°. Lightly spray a baking dish with non-stick spray.

Combine breadcrumbs and 2 tbsp grated cheese in one bowl and 1/4 cup egg beaters or egg whites in another.

Shred or finely chop 1.5 oz of mozzarella cheese and combine with remaining grated cheese, spinach (make sure you squeeze it dry), 2 tbsp egg beaters, and ricotta cheese.

Lay chicken cutlets down on a working surface and spread 2 tbsp of spinach-cheese mixture on each cutlet. Loosely roll each one and keep seam side down.

Dip chicken in egg mixture, then in breadcrumbs and place seam side down in a baking dish (no toothpicks needed). Repeat with the remaining chicken. When finished, lightly spray with olive oil.

Bake 25 minutes. Remove from oven, top with sauce then cheese.

Bake until cheese is melted and bubbling, about 3 more minutes. Serve with additional sauce on the side and grated cheese.

Turkey Meatballs

I'm not Italian so it is not a requirement that I make amazing meatballs, however, these were pretty good. The taste was great and I love having another use for turkey in my recipe box.  I did have some trouble getting them to stay together but I think that has more to do with my lack of meatball skills and not the recipe.  If you make this let me know how yours turned out, I need pointers.

Turkey Meatballs:
(Food Network- Giada de Laurentiis) 

Ingredients:
1 small onion, grated
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 large egg
1/4 cup dried bread crumbs
3 tablespoons ketchup
1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
1/4 cup grated Pecorino Romano
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 pound ground turkey meat
3 tablespoons olive oil
26 ounces marinara sauce

Directions:

Add the onion, garlic, egg, bread crumbs, ketchup, parsley, Parmesan, Pecorino, salt and pepper to a large bowl and blend. Mix in the turkey. Shape the turkey mixture into 1 1/4-inch-diameter meatballs. Place on a large plate or baking sheet.

Heat the oil in a heavy large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the meatballs and saute until browned on all sides, about 5 minutes. Turn off heat. Transfer the meatballs to a plate. Pour off any excess oil. Add the marinara sauce, about 3 cups. Return all the meatballs to the pan. Turn the heat to medium-low and simmer until the sauce thickens slightly and the flavors blend, 15 to 20 minutes. Season the sauce, to taste, with salt and pepper.

Basic Pizza Dough

I, along with the rest of the United States, love pizza.  We do order out for pizza a decent amount but we also love to have make your own pizza nights here at the house.  Basic pizza dough obviously makes great pizza but it also is great for making strombolis and calzones.

This recipe makes 2 balls of dough.  I like to go ahead and throw one in the freezer so i'm always prepared.  If you're cooking for one then cut the loaf into smaller pieces.

Pizza Dough:
(Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook)

1 cup warm water (110 degrees)
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1 envelope active dry yeast
2 3/4 cups unbleached flour
1 teaspoon table salt
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
Fine cornmeal, for dusting

In a small bowl , sprinkle the sugar and yeast in the warm water.  Mix with a fork and let sit for 5 minutes or until foamy.

In a food processor, pulse the flour and salt to combine.  Add the yeast water mixture and the olive oil; pulse until the mixture comes together but it still slightly sticky.  Turn the dough out onto a slightly floured work surface; kneed four or five times until a smooth ball forms.

Place dough ball into a slightly oiled bowl, smooth side up.  Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for about 40 minutes, or until doubled in size.

Punch dough down, fold onto its self four or five times.  Place back in the bowl, smooth side up, and let rise for an additional 30-40 minutes.

Punch dough down again.  Turn out on a floured surface and divide the dough into 2 pieces.  Knead each piece of dough 4 or 5 ties and turn into a smooth ball.  If freezing, wrap the dough in plastic and let thaw in the refrigerator before using.  Otherwise roll out and top with your favorite toppings.

Beef and Spinach Lasagna

So, I had a cooking flop last night.  I was going to make spaghetti and meatballs last night but got kinda impatient and they ended up getting all smooshed and I gave up.  It ended up being some hard core meat sauce.  So today I used it to make some meat lasagna. It worked out pretty well.  If at first your don't succeed, try try again.

I made this with beef because that's what we had but a lot of times I'll make lasagna with turkey.  This makes fantastic leftovers, by the way.

Beef and Spinach Lasagna:


Meat Sauce:
1 pound of ground beef
1 jar tomato sauce
1 onion, chopped into small pieces
1 garlic clove, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
Salt & pepper

In a skillet on high, heat up the olive oil.  Add the onion, let cook for a minute then add the garlic.  After another minute add the ground beef.  When the beef is brown add the jar of tomato sauce and Italian seasoning.

Reduce the heat to medium and let cook for 10 minutes.  When finished use for lasagna or store in the refrigerator to use for another pasta dish.

Lasagna:
1/2 box lasagna noodle, cooked per package directions
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 package frozen spinach
Prepared meat sauce

Spoon some of the tomato sauce on the bottom of the lasagna pan.  Top with 3 noodles.  Spoon on more sauce, shredded cheese, spinach, and ricotta cheese.  Repeat until your lasagna pan is full of wonderful goodness.  Sprinkle some more cheese on top and bake at 375 for 30-45 minutes or until everything is bubbly.