Mushroom and Sausage Stuffed Shells

Mushroom and Sausage Stuffed Shells
Recipe adapted from For the Love of Cooking
Makes 4 Servings

2.5 links of Italian turkey sausage (1/2 pound), removed from casings
8 oz white button mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup sweet yellow onion, diced finely
2 tsp minced garlic
½ tsp nutmeg
¾ cup fat-free ricotta cheese (186 grams)
1 egg, beaten
60 grams mozzarella cheese, shredded, divided
2 tbsp reduced fat Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup of fresh spinach, chopped
2 ½ cups low-calorie spaghetti sauce
16 jumbo pasta shells, cooked per instructions
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 375. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add sausage and cook until crumbled. Remove from heat. Add mushrooms and onions then sauté until brown, 5-6 minutes. Add garlic and continue to cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Remove from heat and mix with sausage. In a large bowl combine ricotta, 1 oz. mozzarella, Parmesan, the egg, spinach, nutmeg, salt and pepper, to taste. Mix thoroughly then add the sausage mixture. Pour 1 ¼ cups of spaghetti sauce in the bottom of a baking dish that has been coated with cooking spray. Place the 16 cooked shells in the pan. Stuff each shell with the mixture. Pour remaining sauce over the stuffed shells. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and top with remaining mozzarella. Bake for 3-5 minutes.

Nutritional Information (4 shells): 441 calories, 49 carbs, 14 fat grams and 32 protein grams.

Review: AMAZING. New favorite Italian recipe. Seriously. Just the right amount of food, great mixture of cheese, the mushrooms and garlic gave it extra bite and texture and the spicy sausage was perfect - added a lot of flavor for not a lot of calories. This was a an easy recipe to put together and will DEFINITELY be made again! I'm so excited that I tried these and while I loved my last stuffed shells recipe (with 96/4 ground beef and frozen spinach), this spicy Italian turkey sausage and fresh spinach mixture blew that one out of the water. For real! I hope you try this and love it!

one serving