This recipe has hearty and healthy hand-in-hand: whole wheat pasta adds a fibre boost, and we’ve lightened up by using no-oil pan frying, extra lean beef and lighter cheeses and pasta sauce. Small amounts of olives, pesto and feta punch up the flavour.
| 4 cups (1 L) |
whole wheat rotini or penne pasta |
| 1-½ lb (750 g) |
Extra Lean Ground Sirloin or Round* |
| 1 |
large onion, chopped |
| 2 cups (500 mL) |
sliced mushrooms |
| 1 |
EACH diced sweet red and green pepper |
| 4 |
cloves garlic, minced |
| 1 jar (700 mL) |
fat and sodium reduced pasta sauce |
| 2 cups (500 mL) |
shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese |
| 1 cups (250 mL) |
crumbled light feta cheese |
| ½ cup (125 mL) |
chopped pitted kalamata olives |
| ¼ cup (50 mL) |
prepared basil pesto sauce |
- Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
- Meanwhile, brown ground beef, onion, mushrooms, red and green peppers and garlic in large nonstick fry pan over medium-high heat until meat is cooked thoroughly and any liquid has evaporated. Remove from heat. Stir in pasta sauce, half of the mozzarella, feta, olives, pesto and cooked pasta.
- Spoon into 13 x 9-inch (3 L) baking dish; top with remaining mozzarella. Tent loosely with foil and bake in 350°F (180°C) oven for 35 minutes. Uncover and bake for 5 minutes.
* Other options: Extra Lean Ground Beef, Lean Ground Sirloin, Round, Chuck or Lean Ground Beef