Veggie Stuffed Shells

Who doesn't love stuffed shells? No one I've ever met, that's for sure! The calories though, whew! That's always a deal breaker for me. Tonight though, not only did I manage to keep these under 650 calories per serving, but I got my husband to eat mushrooms and spinach. I repeat, HE ATE MUSHROOMS AND SPINACH. He also said it was "good", which is husband speak for "I'd eat this if you make it again". Can I get a hallelujah?! For this recipe you will need:

12 pieces of shell pasta

1/2 lbs. of lean ground hamburger meat (or ground turkey, which is even healthier)

1/2 cup of finely chopped onions

1/2 cup of finely chopped portobello mushrooms

1 cup of finely chopped baby spinach

2 tbs. of minced garlic

1 cup of spaghetti sauce

1/2 cup of fat free cottage cheese

1/2 cup of parmesan cheese

Don't you just love how pretty vegetables are? So colorful :)

Boil the shell pasta as directed. Set aside. 

Brown the hamburger meat. Add in the chopped onions, mushrooms, spinach, and garlic and continue to cook until spinach is wilted. Remove from heat. Mix in the cottage cheese, 2/3 of a cup of spaghetti sauce, and 1/4 of a cup of parmesan cheese. 

In a baking dish, add 2 tbs. of spaghetti sauce and coat bottom so the pasta doesn't stick. Lay shells in the pan, then spoon in the vegetable/meat/cheese mixture. Drizzle the remaining 1/4 cup of sauce on top of the stuffed shells and top with the remaining 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese. Bake at 375 for 15 minutes.  

Now, before I let you see the finished product, I must warn you, my husband got his hands on this before I could take a picture. As you can see, the right side is his portion. Lucky him, he can eat all the cheese in the world and not gain an ounce. I hate love him. 

6 shells, which is half of the dish, came out to 646 calories.

Bon appetit!