High protein, Creamy Tuscan pasta
You guys. This recipe, whoa. Macro friendly, husband approved, kid friendly, all the things! Also, easy as pie.
Taylor dubbed this, ‘the best recipe you’ve ever made’, if that tells you anything. This is coming from the guy who is not at all afraid to tell me when my recipes are not up to par, so this is high praise!
I’ll keep it short and sweet here, you need to try it. And do not for a second let the cottage cheese scare you!
Ingredients
1 cup half & half
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup cottage cheese (I use 4%, the higher the fat content the better)
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
3 Tbsp sundried tomato (optional)
8 oz high protein pasta (I used Lupii penne - Banza would also work!)
1.5 cups baby spinach
16 oz ground turkey (I used 99% lean)
1/2 packet of an Italian salad dressing packet
Directions
Start by boiling your pasta in a large pot, according to directions on the box.
Next start browning your ground turkey on medium heat in a large skillet. As the turkey finishes browning, incorporate the Italian seasoning.
To make the cream sauce, combine whipping cream, chicken broth, cottage cheese, garlic, garlic powder, and parmesan in a food processor or small blender, and blend until combined. Transfer to a small pot, add sundried tomatoes, and simmer on low heat until it thickens.
After the sauce thickens, combine your drained pasta noodles, ground turkey, cream sauce, and baby spinach in the pasta pot.
Let it simmer for a minute or two, just until the spinach is wilted.
Note: if for some reason your sauce isn’t thick enough, mix 1 Tbsp flour or cornstarch with 1 Tbsp water, incorporate that into the pasta mixture, and it’ll thicken right up!
The recipe is done here, but if you prefer a pasta “bake”, add an additional 1/2 cup parmesan on top and broil in the oven until the cheese is melted!
Macros
This recipe makes 5 servings at around 255g each! Macros are for one serving.
308 calories, 23.3g carb, 10.9g fat, 34.4g protein