Low Fat Cheesy Jumbo Pasta Shells With Ground Turkey

Total Time: 1 hr 10 mins Preparation Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 55 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 8
• 12 ounces jumbo pasta shells
• 1 lb ground turkey
• 1/2 cup onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
• 1 1/4 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded (reserve 1/4 cup)
• 1 cup parmesan cheese, grated
• 1 lb low-fat ricotta cheese
• 1 lb low-fat small-curd cottage cheese
• 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley
• 26 ounces spaghetti sauce, reserve 1 c (jarred or homemade)
• fresh basil, chopped, for garnish

Recipe

• 1 in an 8 quart pot, bring water to a boil and cook shells according to package directions.
• 2 drain and cool immediately with cold water.
• 3 drain and place open side down on paper towels.
• 4 meanwhile brown ground turkey with onion and garlic; drain fat.
• 5 combine the next 8 ingredients.
• 6 in a medium bowl, combine ground turkey and the cheese mixture.
• 7 reserve the 1/4 cup of mozzarella.
• 8 place a thin layer of spaghetti sauce into the bottom of a 12 x 9 x 2 inch baking dish.
• 9 preheat oven to 375 degrees fahrenheit.
• 10 spoon the cheese/meat mixture into each pasta shell and place open side up, in a single layer, in prepared pan. i don't usually use all 12 ounces of noodles.
• 11 pour the remaining sauce (reserve 1 cup sauce) over the stuffed shells.
• 12 loosely cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes.
• 13 during last 5 minutes of baking, remove foil and sprinkle remaining mozzarella cheese on top.
• 14 bake 5 more minutes.
• 15 garnish with fresh chopped basil. i like to have a side of warm spaghetti sauce to drizzle over; especially for left-overs.