This fiber rich pasta dish is easy, loaded with flavor and just plain de-licious! It has a bit of a kick but since the heat is coming from red pepper flakes you can easily adjust the amount. The very lean, turkey sausage is made from scratch using ground turkey breast and seasonings. Each skinny serving has 273 calories, 6 grams of fat and 7 Weight Watchers POINTS PLUS. I not only love this dish for a Sunday night dinner, it’s so quick to make, it works well for a weeknight dinner too!
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients
1½ cups yellow, orange or red bell peppers, chopped
1 cup onions, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
8 ounces (½ pound) 99% fat-free ground turkey breast
1 tablespoon fresh garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dry Italian seasonings
¼-½ teaspoon red pepper flakes, to taste (I used ¼ teaspoon)
¼ cup white wine, see shopping tip
1½ cups cherry or grape tomatoes, sliced in half
¾ teaspoon salt or to taste
½ cup fresh basil, thinly sliced
2 cups cooked whole grain penne pasta (1½ cups dry, about 4 ounces)
¼ cup Parmesan cheese, shredded for topping
Instructions
1. In a microwave safe plate or bowl, add bell peppers and onions. Cook for about 3-4 minutes, until softened.
2. In a large nonstick pan, add olive oil and heat. Add ground turkey and brown, stirring often for about 4 minutes, breaking into pieces. Add garlic, cooked peppers, onions and red pepper flakes. Saute for about 2 minutes.
3. Add wine (deglaze with wine), scraping up the browned bits on the bottom of pan. Simmer until liquid is reduced by half. Stir in tomatoes and continue to cook until heated through about 2 minutes. Season with a little salt.
4. Remove from heat. Stir in fresh basil, cooked pasta and toss well.
5. Top each serving with 1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese, if desired
Makes 4 servings (each serving, 1¼ cups)
Food Fact
Arrabbiata means angry in Italian-the name of the sauce is due to the heat of the red pepper flakes. The sauce usually includes garlic, tomatoes, olive oil and red pepper flakes. Sometimes sausage is added.The dish is usually served over penne pasta.
Shopping Tips
No need to use an expensive bottle of white wine for this dish. I usually buy a very inexpensive wine such as Trader Joe’s Charles Shaw wine. It’s known as the Two Buck Chuck!
Reduced-sodium chicken broth can be used instead of the wine.
Weight Watchers (old points) 5
Weight Watchers POINTS PLUS 6 without Parmesan cheese on top
Weight Watchers POINTS PLUS 7 with Parmesan cheese on top
SKINNY FACTS: for 1 serving (1¼ cups) including Parmesan cheese
273 calories, 6g fat, 21g protein, 33g carbs, 6g fiber, 340mg sodium, 1g sugar
FAT FACTS: for 1 serving (1¼ cups) using full fat sausages
350 calories, 20g fat, 18mg protein, 25mg carbs, 2g carbs, 644mg sodium, 1g sugar
Nancy Fox
Nancy Fox is no stranger to the food industry. She founded Mrs. Beasley's, a gift-basket company featuring baskets full of decadent baked goods. It became the "hot" gift to give among the Hollywood community. Nancy later opened 2 low fat restaurants called Nancy’s Healthy Kitchen. Her line of reduced-fat cookies were featured on "Oprah's Favorites" gift show. Continuing her passion for cooking and baking Nancy created a recipe website called Skinny Kitchen. Each week she shares skinny recipes, cooking and kitchen tips, food finds and the healthy benefits of many recipes. There’s also nutritional facts and Weight Watchers POINTS on each recipe.
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nancy@skinnykitchen.com
Tuesday 15th of September 2015
Thanks so much for sharing my skinny pasta recipe today! All the best, Nancy