Macaroni Casserole

This easy baked pasta dish is made with whole wheat pasta, ground turkey, veggies, marinara sauce and cheese. It’s comforting, child-friendly and so easy to make because there’s no need to pre-cook the pasta! The video shows you how to make this easy one dish meal and you can vary the vegetables and the type of meat or leave the meat out and make the dish vegetarian.

Ingredients

• 1 lb 93% lean ground turkey
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 medium red pepper, chopped
• 1/4 cup finely diced celery
• 1/4 cup finely diced carrots
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms
• 1 (14.5 oz can) petite diced tomatoes, drained
• 2 cups marinara sauce
• 2 cups water
• 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
• 1 tsp salt
• 8 oz shredded mozzarella cheese
• 8 oz uncooked whole wheat elbows

Method

1. In a large deep non-stick pan, brown the ground turkey over high heat until cooked through, seasoning with a pinch of salt and breaking it up into smaller pieces as it cooks.
2. Set aside on a dish.
3. Add olive oil to the pan, reduce heat to medium and add the onion, red pepper, celery and carrots; sauté until the vegetables soft, about 6 to 7 minutes.
4. Return the turkey to the pan along with the remaining ingredients except for the pasta and cheese.
5. Bring to a boil and then lower heat to medium-low and simmer for 20 minutes. While simmering, heat oven to 350°F.
6. Spoon just enough of the turkey/vegetable mixture to cover the bottom of a 9 x 13″ pan.
7. Cover with uncooked pasta. Spoon remaining sauce mixture
   evenly over the top and sprinkle with cheese.
8. Cover with foil and bake 50-55 minutes.
9. Remove from oven and let it stand, covered, for 15 minutes.
10. Divide into 8 servings.

Serves: 8  – Nutrition Per serving
Calories: 338,  Fat: 13g, Carbohydrate: 31g, Fibre: 5g, Protein: 21g, Sugar: 2g