Stuffed Pasta Shells with Sausage, Spinach and Mushroom Sauce

Sometimes, you need to use shortcuts to get dinner on the table....this is one of those recipes.  I start off with a store bought package of frozen cheese stuffed pasta shells and a jar of meatless marinara, then add ingredients to make it taste like it's homemade.  The point value I am providing is accurate if your frozen cheese stuffed pasta shells come to 4 pts for two shells, your marinara is 1 pt per 1/2 cup serving, and your turkey sausage is 3 points for 4 oz....otherwise, you will need to adjust the points as necessary according to your key ingredients.  Tonight, I served these with an arugula and roasted red pepper salad, dressed in a simple olive oil and balsamic dressing.

Yep, the shells are under all that yummy sauce!  2 of them!

Stuffed Pasta Shells with Sausage, Spinach and Mushroom

MyKitchenAdventures 

1 package of frozen cheese stuffed pasta shells without sauce ( I used Schwann's)

1 32 oz. jar of plain marinara sauce ( I used Mid's)

1 pound ground turkey sausage ( I used Di Russo's)

2 cups of fresh organic baby spinach, chopped

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tsp. olive oil 

8 oz. fresh mushrooms, sliced

1/2 cup reduced fat mozzarella, shredded  ( I used Kraft 2% ) 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  In medium non stick skillet, brown the sausage.  While sausage is browning, put about a 1/4 cup marinara in the bottom of a 9 x 13 " glass baking dish and swirl around to coat bottom of pan.  Arrange frozen shells in a single layer in the pan. Once sausage is browned, drain and in a medium sized bowl, combine the sausage and the rest of the marinara.  In the same pan you browned the sausage in, add 1 tsp olive oil and garlic.  Saute until garlic is soft, about 3 minutes.  Add cooked garlic to the sausage/ marinara mixture.  In the same pan you sauteed the garlic in, add the mushrooms and cook until soft, about 4 minutes.  Add the mushrooms and juices to the marinara/sausage/garlic mixture, then add the chopped baby spinach to the sauce, stir to combine.  Spread the sauce on top of the shells.  Cover with foil.  Bake in oven for 45-50 minutes.  Uncover and add cheese on top of shells, bake for another 10 minutes, or until cheese is melted and sauce is bubbly.  Remove from oven and allow to sit for 5 minutes before eating.  

Serving size is two shells with about a 1/2 cup of sauce for 7 points.  

Ready for the oven....

* this is an older recipe...if you would like new pp values for it, please email me at the address found in the contact tab!  thanks!  to see more updated recipes, please click on the "home" tab.