Healthier Italian Stuffed Shells

So, I found a recipe for Italian stuffed shells and then I looked at the nutrition facts...because we are trying to eat better in our household I thought I would try to make the recipe a little healthier and see how it tasted! In my husbands and I's opinion it was delicious! It makes more filling than needed but I just froze the extra and then next time all I have to do is boil the shells and bake!

Instead of Ground Beef and sausage I used Ground Turkey which shaved off about 1,000 calories right there! I used low fat Ricotta cheese and instead of bread crumbs I used Panko and seasoned it with some Italian Seasonings!

                                                              1 lb Ground Turkey

                                                              1 lg. onion, chopped
                                                              1 clove garlic, minced
                                                              3 cups Mozzarella Cheese
                                                              1 container Low Fat Ricotta cheese
                                                             1/2 cup Italian seasoned Panko 
                                                             1/4 cup chopped parsley
                                                               1 egg, lightly beaten
                                                             18 jumbo pasta shells (cooked until almost tender)
                                                               2 jars (15 1/2 oz each) Spaghetti Sauce
                                                              1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese

1/2 cup dry red wine

       salt and pepper, to taste 

In a large skillet, brown turkey (Make sure you use olive oil on the pan because the turkey does stick to the pan w/out it.) Add onion and garlic, sauté until onion is tender. Drain (there might not be anything to drain b/c the turkey has barely any fat.)

Stir in Mozzarella cheese, panko, parsley, egg, salt, pepper and Ricotta cheese. Stuff Shells with this mixture. Spoon 1/4 of the spaghetti sauce over bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish. I like to overstuff them if you cant tell ;)

Arrange stuffed shells on top of sauce. Blend wine with remaining sauce. Pour over shells. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top.

Bake at 400°F for (20-25 minutes) or until bubbling

I went light on the tomato sauce just because I was trying to cut down the calories but feel free to pour that sauce on!! It's Sooo good!