Back in September, my husband and I made our Homemade Tomato Sauce. We got the fresh tomatoes from Longos and peeled, cooked, and jarred our own delicious sauce to last us throughout the year! We have been enjoying delicious weekly pasta dishes and one of our favourite healthier and savoury pasta options is adding some lean ground turkey to the sauce.
This is a quick weeknight dish and uses Maple Leaf Extra Lean Ground Turkey which can be purchased 2 for $12 at Walmart – great for multi meals and great price point! This pasta dish is great for leftovers the next day. Often, we will have some for lunch and then as a side to some chicken/chicken salad for dinner. I make some chicken in the slow cooker or in the oven or you could even turn the leftover pasta into a casserole and top with some cheese and pop in the oven.
A great meal prep tip: brown the ground turkey on a weekend, freeze in a container and take out in the morning and by dinner you add it to the sauce warm up and serve. You could also brown the meat, and cook the sauce mix on the weekend and freeze for a later date to take out and warm up for a quick weeknight meal!
The best part of this meal is of course the tomato sauce – you add some olive oil, garlic, onion and some spices. Brown the ground turkey in a frying pan. Add that into the pot with the sauce, onion and garlic. Let that simmer for 10-20+ minutes on low. Enjoy the aromas and boil the pasta and before you know it you will be enjoying a delicious bowl of pasta!
Here is the recipe:
Homemade Tomato Sauce, Ground Turkey & Rotini Pasta
Ingredients:
About 2 tbsp of olive oil
1 tbsp of dry basil
1 tbsp of dry oregano
1 tbsp ground black pepper
1 package of Maple Leaf Prime Extra Lean Ground Turkey
1/3 of a small onion, diced
4 garlic gloves finely chopped
1 pack of whole wheat rotini pasta
2 cups of white pasta (optional)
1 jar of Homemade Tomato Sauce
1 tbsp of tomato paste (to thicken the sauce)
Parmesan Cheese (grated) in container or fresh Parmigiano Reggiano sliced
Directions:
1. In a frying pan, brown up the ground turkey. Once that is complete, in a small saucepot add some oil, onions and let that soften on medium-low heat for 3-4 minutes. Add in the garlic for 2 minutes. Add in your spices. Stir.
2. Add in your browned turkey. Add in the sauce and tomato paste. Allow that to come to a boil, then turn the heat down to low and stir. Cover halfway and allow it to simmer for 10-20 minutes (you could always let it simmer longer as long as it is on low heat). At the same time, boil your pasta water. Add in the pasta and cook according to the package directions.
3. Once everything is cooked, drain the pasta and add the meat sauce either individually to each plate of pasta or right on top of the pot of cooked pasta.
Serve warm, top with some fresh sliced Parmigiano Reggiano cheese or the grated parmesan cheese in the container is great as well. We enjoy snacking on the cheese with a glass of wine of course! “Mangia” and enjoy!
What is your favourite pasta sauce dish?