This weekend I decided to get in touch with my non-existent
Italian roots. Pasta bakes are something I love to make, as it is a
quick and easy meal to prepare. This is basically pasta and sauce baked
together.
My turkey, spinach and mozzarella bake is healthy, quick and
budget friendly.
When I posted a video, few people asked me why I used turkey
mince. The simple answer is – I prefer it over minced beef or lamb. I
personally feel like it absorbs flavour a bit more than other meat. On the
other hand, turkey has many health benefits too. It is high in protein, if it
is skinless the meat is low in fat and helps lower cholesterol. Making it a
good choice for a lean meal. It is a good source for iron, zinc, potassium and
phosphorus. (more info – google the health benefits of turkey.
Source: bodyandsoul.com.au).
With this recipe, you can feed up to 6-7 people for less
than £1.50 per portion. All ingredients were bought from Tesco, I am aware
Tesco is not available in every country but these ingredients can be found at
your local super market. If you can’t find it, the recipe is flexible for you
to substitute some of the ingredients.
Ingredients
Meat Sauce:
3 tbsp of olive oil
1 small onion
4 cloves of garlic
500g of turkey mince
800g of tinned chopped tomatoes
125g of Half fat Italian Mozzarella
2 tbsp of dried oregano
240g of spinach (1 bag of baby spinach from Tesco)
Pasta:
350g of Conchiglioni Rigate
Topping before baking:
50g of Parmigiano Reggiano
25g of garlic and herb croutons
Method:
1.Firstly,
you need to cook the pasta and keep it aside. Put the pasta into a pot and pour
1 ½ litre of hot water. Add a splash of olive oil and some salt to
the water. Cook it for 9 minutes. The instructions say longer but because we
are going to bake it, 9 minutes is more than enough. Take 1 cup of the water
that the pasta is cooked in and set it aside, should the sauce be too
thick this is what we will be using to thin it down. After this, drain it and
keep it aside.
2.Pour
the oil into your saucepan/ iron casserole. I like to cook in a casserole
because I can bake it in the same dish. Although it may seem like too much oil,
as I mentioned turkey is low in fat so this is necessary.
3.Once
the oil heats up, add the onion and garlic. Let it cook until it is slightly
golden brown and soft.
4.Now
add the meat and let it cook.
5.While
cooking turkey, you will notice that it releases a lot of water. So, you need
to cook it till all the water evaporates and the meat starts to brown a bit.
6.Pre-heat
the oven at 175* C.
7.After
this point you need to add the two tins of chopped tomatoes, ¼ cup of
pasta water and let it simmer away for 10 minutes. This will reduce the
water content in the sauce. At this point add the dried oregano and let it cook
on low heat for another 3 minutes. Just because I love chili, I like to add
some chili flakes too, but this is optional.
8.The
last thing is spinach. Because it does not take that long to cook, you should
leave this till the end. As soon as the spinach wilts down, add the pasta and
mix it well so you get a bit of everything with every bite. At this point
if the sauce is too thick for your liking you can add some more of the
pasta water. Pinch in ¾ of the mozzarella and mix in. The
remaining ¼ scatter it over the top.
9.Just
before putting it in the oven – crush up some of the croutons (some
powder and some chunks) and sprinkle it over the top with the Parmigiano
Reggiano. This just adds a bit more flavour and texture to the whole dish.
10. Bake it for
5 minutes. Turn it around and bake it for another 5 minutes.
11.Serve it
while it is still warm.
Alternatives:
- Whenever
I make this, I always keep some of the sauce aside for my sister as she is
gluten intolerant. She likes to eat it with gluten free pasta, on top
of toast with some cheese etc.
- You
can use minced beef or lamb.
- If
you are into health – you can leave the pasta out and eat it with a
dollop of sour cream.
- You
can use this sauce to make nachos
- If
you use only 1 tin of tomatoes you can even use it as pizza topping.
I hope you try this and if you do, please don’t forget to share it
with me. #misstgeorge/ tag me @misstgeorge on Facebook or Instagram.
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