Baked Turkey Rotini

I have been on a cooking frenzy the past few weeks, and I don't mind it! Ever since I started this blog almost a year ago I have learned so much. If it is possible, I think I love cooking even more. I love the fact that I can take a recipe and switch it up to how I want it. It makes me feel confident about my cooking abilities. 

With this recipe I pretty much changed everything and even added my own things. The base of the recipe is from Eat Yourself Skinny, a new food blog that I found and love. The recipe was great, but I ended up going my own direction when I started cooking. I had been craving a good pasta bake recipe and when I found this I was set. I decided that I needed to add a bit more flavor, and adding just a few spices really changes a recipe. 

When I went shopping I was looking for rigatoni, what the original recipe called for, but I couldn't find a whole wheat/grain rigatoni. So I went a different direction when I spotted that little green box. A good way to make pasta dishes healthy is to go for the Garden Delight Ronzoni pastas. Certain portions have a full serving of vegetables and I think that is delightfully sneaky! Especially if you have kids, this is a great way to give them their daily vegetable servings without them knowing it. I love it!

Baked Turkey Rotini
Adapted From Eat Yourself Skinny


Ingredients:
1 tbs olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 medium onion, chopped
4 cups tomato sauce
1 lb ground lean turkey
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp dried oregano
1 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
2 1/2 cups uncooked rotini
1 1/2 cups (6 oz) shredded fat-free mozzarella cheese, divided
Cooking spray
1/4 cup grated fresh Parmesan cheese 

Directions:

1. Cook 2 1/2 cups rotini as instructed by package, omitting salt, until just al dente.
2. Preheat oven to 350º.
3. Heat olive oil in medium-high heat. Add onions and garlic until fragrant, 2-3 minutes. 
4. Add ground turkey and cook until browned; stirring to crumble. Drain well.
5. Combine turkey, rotini, tomato sauce, and 1 cup mozzarella in an 11x7in. baking dish coated with cooking spray. Top with 1/2 cup mozzarella and grated Parmesan. 
6. Bake at 350º for 20 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

Makes 8 servings.

Nutrition: Calories 377.5; Fat 16g