Turkey Marinara Penna: Fast Weeknight Dinner!

As promised, here is a long overdue recipe! A very simple, but comforting dish, that can be made any day of the week or prepped for evening meals.

Balanced pasta sauces are hard to find. Many are saturated with sugar, fats, or sodium--not to mention preservatives. Now, I'm not firmly Non-GMO, but I do enjoy good tasting food. In most cases, store bought sauce doesn't have the texture or flavor of a homemade one. In this recipe you'll find a quick and simple red sauce recipe; pair it with a lean protein of your choice, in this case I used turkey. Top some fresh-cooked pasta with the protein-packed sauce, and you have a balanced meal in less than an hour!

 

Turkey Marinara Penne

Pasta

• 1 Box Whole-wheat Penne pasta
• 1 garlic clove, whole
• Salt, dash
• 1 tsp olive oil

Turkey Marinara Sauce

• 1 lb. turkey, ground (93% Lean)
• 1 large can diced tomatoes, no salt added
• 1 small can tomato sauce
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 cup white onion, diced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
• 2 tsp salt
• 1.5 tsp pepper
• 1 tbsp parsley
• 1 tbsp basil, finely chopped
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning

Optional: Parmesan cheese

1. Fill a large pot with water, and place over high heat. Bring to boil before adding garlic, salt, and oil.
2. In a large skillet, add olive oil, half of the chopped onion, bell pepper, and minced garlic. Cook until tender.
3. Add ground turkey, and season with salt and pepper. Cook until browned.
4. Mix in diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, remaining onion, parsley, basil and Italian seasoning.
5. Simmer on low heat until sauce reduces, or thickens.
6. In the large pot, cook pasta according to box directions.
7. Drain cooked pasta, remove garlic clove, and toss in a splash of olive oil.
8. Combine sauce and pasta, serve warm.

10 Servings, Per Serving: 187 cal, 23 C, 3g Fiber, 18g P, 3g Fat.