Yields
Makes 6 cups
Ingredients
½cup freshly grated Parmesan
8ounces part-skim ricotta
½pound part-skim mozzarella shredded, ½ cup reserved for topping
2teaspoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
4ounces white mushrooms, sliced
1teaspoon kosher salt, divided
½teaspoon freshly ground pepper, divided
½pound frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained until very dry*
½large onion, peeled and finely chopped
2garlic cloves, peeled and minced
¼pound ground turkey
2cans (8 ounces each) diced tomatoes, juices drained, divided
8ounces tomato sauce
1teaspoon dried basil
½teaspoon oregano
6ounces mini penne (or other
small tubular pasta) par-cooked 5 minutes (until barely cooked), drained and cooled
cooking spray
Nutritional information
Nutritional information per serving (½ cup): Calories 394 (35% from fat) • carb. 39g • pro. 24g • fat 15g • sat. fat 8g • chol. 45mg • sod. 930mg • calc. 574mg • fiber 6g
Instructions
Combine Parmesan, ricotta and all but ½ cup of the mozzarella. Reserve. Heat a Cuisinart® 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat; add 1 teaspoon oil and sauté mushrooms until golden brown. Season with ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Mix with drained spinach. Reserve.
Heat 1 teaspoon oil; sauté onions and garlic until soft, about five minutes. Set aside. In the same skillet, heat 1 teaspoon oil and brown, the ground turkey; transfer to bowl with onions. Stir in 1 cup diced tomatoes and the remaining salt and pepper. Reserve. Combine tomato sauce, remaining diced tomatoes, basil and oregano; stir into pasta. Lightly coat the interior of the ceramic pot of the Cuisinart® Slow Cooker with cooking spray. Using ¹∕³ of the pasta mixture, make a layer on the bottom of the ceramic pot. Spread meat mixture evenly over pasta. Cover with ½ the cheese mixture. Make a second layer of pasta; top with spinach and mushroom mixture. Cover with remaining ricotta cheese mixture. Make a final layer of pasta and top with reserved mozzarella. Cover and press the on/off button to turn the unit on. Set time to 6 hours and press Low; slow cooker will automatically switch to Warm when cooking time has elapsed.
*To drain spinach thoroughly, first squeeze out as much water as possible with your hands. Lay the spinach on a clean towel, roll up, and wring out the rest. You will end up with about ½ cup dry spinach that can then be mixed with the mushrooms.