Easy Cheesy Baked Penne

The truth is, when you have a list of allergies as long ours, sometimes you do not always get to try a bunch of new recipes. Instead, you find ways of making the same food in different ways, so it at least seems new and exciting! And that is what I did here with my Easy Cheesy Baked Penne.

This was super easy to make, and the kids LOVED it. I doubled the meat in this recipe for extra protein. And per usual, I hid a TON of healthy veggies in here, so that made me happy, too!

Here is how you make it.

INGREDIENTS:

2 pounds ground turkey

1 package gluten-free penne pasta

1 8-ounce package of Violife coconut shredded mozzarella cheese*

1 24-ounce jar of marinara sauce

1 cup roasted cauliflower**

2 cups baby spinach**

Olive oil

Salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, garlic powder to taste

*Coconut cheese is a safe option for our family, but you can use whatever regular cheese or dairy-free cheese substitute works for you!

**I used cauliflower and spinach because I had them on hand and they can easily be hidden in marinara sauce without too strong of a taste. You can use three cups of any veggies you have in your fridge!

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a baking dish with safe cooking spray.

Brown the ground turkey with olive oil and seasonings to taste.

While the meat is browning, cook the penne according to directions on the package but a couple of minutes less. You want your pasta to be a little al dente because it will cook further in the oven.

Grab your veggies and put them in a blender, food processor, or NutriBullet with some olive oil and/or a little marinara sauce. Puree completely.

Combine the cooked turkey, pasta, veggie puree, marinara sauce, and half the bag of cheese together, mixing completely.

Put the mixture in the baking dish and sprinkle the remaining bag of coconut cheese on top.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

ENJOY!