Oh my goodness, AMAZING RECIPE ALERT!
Happy Wednesday, my friends! I am coming at'cha from good ol' NYC. It's the last week that I'm allowed to travel ((I'm 27 weeks today!)) and so we're in New York for the week for my husband's work, and then this weekend we'll go across the river to New Jersey for our East Coast baby shower with Steven's family!
But TONIGHT, I'm sharing with you a new recipe from last week that KNOCKED OUR SOCKS OFF!
Introducing my BAKED CHEESY SHELLS!
Think lasagna, but made with cute little shells!
Layers of chewy pasta, gooey cheese and the most amazing turkey tomato sauce you've ever tasted! All baked to the perfect, bubbly, golden brown goodness, complete with those fabulous crispy cheese edges.
In a word: perfection.
We both took one bite, and it was clear: this was the best meal I'd ever made.
And the most amazing thing is that it is 100% Specific Carbohydrate Diet legal, gluten free, and HIGH PROTEIN.
Each serving has 72 GRAMS OF PROTEIN!!
That's because this recipe utilized lentil pasta -- from Wellbee's...which is the only brand of Specific Carb Diet legal lentil pasta...because they take the time to soak the lentils for 24 hours BEFORE they turn it into pasta!
And let me tell you -- this was decadently good!
And the cheese we used? MUNSTER CHEESE! Straight from the block. From grass-fed cows. And then finished with Parmesan cheese -- which does a really terrific job of browning up 🙂
Here's What You Need: (Serves 4)
Sauce:
1/2 lb cooked ground turkey (I used half of the 1 lb batch I cooked the day before)
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 red onion, diced
5 garlic cloves
2 tomatoes
1 can organic diced tomatoes (SCD: make sure the ONLY ingredients are tomatoes and sea salt!) This is the brand I use
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
Pinch of red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper to taste
3 cups lentil pasta shells (SCD use the Wellbee's brand)
1 block munster cheese, grated (this brand is grass-fed)
1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated fresh from the block
Tools:
Vitamix or high powered blender
Bread pan or casserole dish
Nonstick tinfoil
Cheese grater
Large nonstick skillet or dutch oven
Directions:
In a large skillet or dutch oven, saute your bell pepper, onion, garlic and tomatoes in 3 Tbsp EVOO with salt and pepper for about 5 minutes over medium high heat. Add your spices and your diced tomatoes and cook for 2 more minutes. Transfer to your Vitamix blender, and blend on the soup setting (should be about 5 minutes) until it is velvety and smooth!
While it's blending, add your cooked turkey to the same dutch oven, and warm through over low heat.
When the sauce is finished blending, add back to the dutch oven with the turkey. Stir and set aside until it's ready to be assembled.
Meanwhile, grate your cheeses. (This will take a few minutes, but grating it from the block really makes a huge difference and really makes it melt SO BEAUTIFULLY, versus the pre-shredded variety.
Lastly, cook your pasta until al dante. The Wellbee's brand is supposed to cook for 7.5 minutes -- I cooked it for six. Drain and set aside.
To assemble:
Brush the bottom of your bread or casserole dish with olive oil and spoon a little bit of sauce in the bottom to prevent sticking.
Then, add half of your pasta shells to the pan, followed by 1/2 of your sauce and half of the munster cheese. Repeat the layers. Finish off with your parmesan cheese on the top.
*Protip: you will need to "smoosh" the shells and everything down a bit with the back of a spatula. It will be FULL - but don't fear: we're going to bake it on top of a baking sheet in case it bubbles over, but mine didn't!
Bake uncovered on top of a cookie sheet for 15 minutes in a 400 degree oven until the top is bubbly and has turned a beautiful golden brown.
Let stand for about 5 minutes to set before cutting into it!
Serve with a salad and a roasted vegetable! (I made broccoli and it was the perfect hearty accompaniment!
Leftovers will last up to 3 days in the fridge! (Protip: I saved about 1/4 cup of sauce to "refresh" the leftovers when I reheated them in the oven -- and it really was extra delicious!
Oh my gosh this was the best thing I have eaten in a LONG TIME!
It really was more like a lasagna, because there was this thick, gooey layer of melty cheese in the middle of the piece!
It was so super delicious! The sauce was absolutely divine -- NOTHING beats a homemade tomato sauce. Yes, you could use a jarred variety if you wanted to. BUT, this was just so fresh, and made with super healthy ingredients -- all vegetables! So you're literally getting a serving of veggies just by eating the sauce!
And the leftovers were just as delicious. I mixed it with a little bit more sauce, and reheated it in the oven for 15 minutes at 400 degrees, and it tasted just like the first day!
This was one of my husband's favorite meals. Second ONLY to Filipino Sinigang 🙂
So there you have it! I'm about to go meet my husband at his office before going out to dinner! So I'll catch y'all tomorrow! And boy, do I have some outrageous stories from NYC!
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