Turkey Sausage and Spinach Stuffed Shells

I didn't post last night for two reasons. One, the dinner I made was not my best which was disappointing, I don't like not cooking amazing meals, especially for my man! Boyfriend got me a Weight Watchers cookbook for Christmas (no this wasn't a slam, but something that I thought was very thoughtful since he knows I've been trying hard to keep with the WW). It is packed full of delicious sounding recipes, and the few that I have tried so far were good...but this one didn't make the cut. It was Middle Eastern Beef Kabobs and the picture and ingredients made it look like a winner. However, the taste was flat and bland, and that was after 24 hours of marinading. Going against my better judgement, I followed the recipe exactly...so not like me and look where it got me. IF I choose to make it again, I will def put my own twist on it. The second reason I didn't post was because I wanted to finish the third book in the Hunger Games series....AND I DID! I thought it was really good, even drew a few tears to my eye. Now I can finally start reading the stories I see in magazines at the checkout and not do some weird eye dance where the cashier thinks I'm either A) giving them the "Hey sexy baby" eyes or B) have some unexplainable eye and head twitch. I can also see who they are thinking of to play the characters from the second and third book and see how well I think they did. Since I already knew who was playing Katniss, Peeta, and Gale in the first one, it was hard for me to think of anyone else. Same thing happened with Harry Potter, what do you mean Danial Ratcliff isn't THE Harry Potter!

Well, due to all that, I decided to find a picture on my phone (since that is the camera I use for all my food. I really should use my "real" camera, but it's just easier to edit and send from the iPhone.) and post it in place of the sad kabobs. A friend from work was sad that I had not blogged about the Turkey Sausage and Spinach Stuffed Shells I brought her to work one day, so this one's for you! This is a good twist on the average cheese shells. The turkey sausage adds a meatiness that keeps you full, and the spinach give it nice texture and a good way to sneak in your green veggies! You can use whatever your favorite tomato sauce is to complete this meal. Two of these bad boys are 10 WW points.

Turkey Sausage and Spinach Stuffed Shells

• 1/2 box big pasta shells (about 12)
• 3 links turkey sausage, casings removed
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 small onion, diced
• 1 can petite diced tomatoes, drained
• 1 cup frozen spinach, thawed and water removed
• 1 1/4 cup low fat ricotta cheese
• 1 1/4 cup reduce fat mozzarella cheese, divided 3/4 and 1/2
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 jar tomato sauce

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Boil a large pot of water for the shells. When water comes to a boil, cook for 9 minutes, then rinse under cold water. Set aside.
3. In a large skillet, heat olive oil to medium high heat. 
4. Add sausage and cook until browned.
5. Add onions and cook for 4 minutes until onions are translucent.
6. Add garlic, spinach and tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes until tomatoes have broken down a bit.
7. Remove from heat and add ricotta cheese, 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese, and salt. Stir until well incorportated.
8. Stuff shells evenly with mixture. Top with remaining 1/2 cup mozzarella.
9. Put shells in 9x13 glass baking dish, cover with foil and cook for 20 minutes.
10. While shells are baking, heat sauce in pot over medium heat.
11. Once shells are done, remove from oven, serve and top with tomato sauce.

Tips and Tricks

• If you rather use full fat sausage, knock yourself out! However, the WW points will not be the same. 
• If you like some heat, add a 1/2 tbs red chili flakes while the sausage is cooking.
• You can add the tomato sauce over the shells before you bake them, but I find that the sauce gets absorbed in the pasta and you don't have enough sauce when you eat them. I LOVE SAUCE!