Chicken Stuffed Pasta Shells
These cheesy chicken and spinach pasta shells are packed with 4 different cheeses, chunks of roasted chicken, fresh spinach, onions and garlic. The lower calorie version (minus the chicken) follows the video. If you are short of time you could use a rotisserie chicken from the supermarket!
Lower Calorie Spinach Stuffed Shells with Meat Sauce
Jumbo pasta shells stuffed with ricotta, mozzarella and spinach topped with a turkey meat sauce are very satisfying, three are more than enough to fill you up, or two with a salad on the side. A perfect dish if you have company as this makes a large amount, or you can bake half and freeze the rest.
Ingredients:
- 27 (9 oz) Barilla Jumbo Shells
- 1 cup onion, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1 lb 99% lean ground turkey
- 32 oz crushed tomatoes
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh basil
- salt and pepper
- 2 cups part skim ricotta cheese
- 8 oz reduced fat mozzarella cheese, shredded
- 1 egg
- 16 oz package frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed well
- 1/4 cup Parmigiano Reggiano
Method
- Boil water and cook shells according to package directions, make sure to make them al dente.
- Saute onions and garlic in oil.
- Add turkey and salt and brown until cooked, breaking up in small pieces.
- Add tomatoes, salt, pepper and basil, then simmer on low, covered, about 15 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 375°.
- In a large bowl, mix together ricotta, egg, spinach, mozzarella, and parmesan.
- Once shells are cooked and cool, fill each shell with (about 2 heaping tbsp) cheese mixture and place on a large baking dish, or two smaller dishes, covering the bottom of the dish with a little sauce.
- Top shells with half of the sauce, cover with foil and bake 40 minutes; uncover foil and bake 5 more minutes.
- Serve with additional sauce on top.
Serves 9 – Serving size: 3 stuffed shells – Nutrition Per Serving
Calories: 361, Fat: 13g, Protein: 28g, Carbohydrate: 34g, Fibre: 3g