I have made macaroni pie for a few years but when I saw this recipe (from the Scotos) it intrigued me because the pie was placed in a springform pan. This recipe does not have a red sauce that goes with it like my other recipe and it also had some chopped spinach….hum. Well I thought it was worth a try and I’m so glad that I did. If you are wondering yes, I did have to tweak the recipe a bit to make it more low fat, which is something you will discover with many Italian recipes because they LOVE cheese!
The macaroni pie has a mild flavor (I’m learning most true Italian dishes do) but you can easily jazz up the spices if you choose to (I did the second time I made it). Enjoy! For comments/questions please send to ramona@lowfatdivablog.com
Italian Macaroni Pie
Ingredients:
1 Packet Penne Pasta
1 tbsp Blue Bonnet Light
1 clove garlic minced
ground pepper to taste
1/4 cup diced Canadian Bacon
1/4 cup fresh chopped Italian Parsley
1 cup browned Honeysuckle Lean Turkey Breakfast Sausage
2 cup fresh baby spinach leaves
1 cup mozzarella balls cut into cubes (or use low fat shredded mozzarella)
1 cup no fat ricotta cheese
2 tbsp garlic salt
2 tbsp onion powder
1/4 cup grated Parmesan Reggiano
1 cup egg beaters
Preparation:
- Coat 8 inch springform pan well with Pam spray.
- Cook pasta until al dente. Drain pasta, reserving 2 cups of pasta water.
- Place pasta in a very large bowl. Toss pasta with 1/2 cup of water then add garlic salt, onion powder and pepper and oleo.
- In a large skillet fry turkey breakfast sausage until almost done, add garlic and chopped Canadian Bacon.
- Coarsely chop the baby spinach leaves and add to meat mixture. Cook 1-3 minutes or until leaves wilt.
- Toss in with pasta mixture.
- Add cheese, egg beaters, parsley and ricotta to the pasta, carefully incorporating everything together.
- Place macaroni mixture into the springform pan. Bake in 350 degree oven for 60 minutes or until top is lightly browned and firm to the touch.
- Let cool for 5-7 minutes before you loosen the sides of the springform pan.
- Carefully remove the bottom and set on serving plate. This pie can be served warm or at room temp.
NOTE: You can add some hot pepper flakes to zest the flavor up a bit. No worries if you family does not care for spinach, they will not really be able to taste it from the parsley. If the mixture appears to dry you can add a bit more of the pasta water before you place the mixture in the springform pan.
You can visit Ramona’s blog at the address below:
