Day 163: Baked Pasta, How Do I Love Thee

I'm not sure what the best thing is about this dinner.  The flavor?  The fact that it incorporates ingredients from 5 of the 6 food pyramid areas?  The leftovers, good for lunch or dinner later in the week?  It's so hard to choose...

I never make baked pasta the same way twice.  Some components are consistent:  whole grain pasta and ground turkey, to be exact.  But the additional ingredients vary based on what I have on hand.

I boil the pasta in salted water with olive oil until cooked al dente.  While that's happening, I brown 1.25 to 1.5 lbs of ground turkey (buy ground turkey breast and you reduce the fat content further!) with 3 minced cloves of garlic, 1/2 a chopped onion, diced red bell pepper and/or zucchini, red pepper flakes, 1/4 tsp dried oregano, and S&P.  This time, I also added what remained of a bag of fresh spinach leaves - maybe 2 cups, which I chopped and added once the turkey was browned.

In a large bowl, mix together the pasta, the turkey mixture, and 2 cups of tomato sauce (one of my favorite jarred sauces is Classico Tomato & Basil).

Spray a large glass baking dish with Pam (or use olive oil, if you prefer) and then add half of your pasta mixture and spread evenly.  Lay slices of provolone cheese over the top and sprinkle with shredded mozzarella.  Add the rest of your pasta, followed by another layer of provolone. Bake in the oven on 350 degrees until the cheese is melted.  Pull the dish out, sprinkle another layer of shredded mozzarella over the top, and return to the oven until the cheese is melted.

If you have fresh basil on hand, it adds great color and a punch of additional flavor when chopped and sprinkled over the top.  Or, you sprinkle some freshly grated parmesan over the top.  You can never have too much cheese.

Give this recipe a try on a cold wet day and you'll feel warm and cozy and happy.  I promise!