Lightened-Up Cheesy Pastitsio

Yes you read that correctly.

CHEESY.

Leave it to Cooking Light to give me a cheesy pasta dish that I can indulge in enjoy to a minimum.  I wouldn't suggest making this every single night to lose weight, but it's definitely AMAZING and a great substitute for heavier pasta dishes.  Plus it's super eeeeasy.

Hell to the yeah.

I chose to use beef since the BF refused ground turkey {stubborn}, but that would be a perfect healthier alternative!  OR you could just forget counting calories and use a spicy sausage like Jimmy Dean and give this whole dish a big kick in the pants.

Yeah I chose to walk the safer route and used lean beef.  I'm consuming too many sweets as it is this Christmas!  I also used Dreamfields low-carb pasta, fat-free cheeses and took out the flour this recipe called for.  In my opinion it still tasted delish!  Next time I will definitely add a pinch of red pepper flakes to give this more heat. 

This pasta is fun because everything cooks in the same pan on the stove, gets thrown into a casserole dish and voila, you have yourself a super hearty meal that everyone will love.  Oh and trust me, this will feed an army!

Lightened-Up Cheesy Pastitsio

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Servings: 6

Serving Size: 1 1/3 cups 

Calories: 355

Fat: 7.1 g

Carbs: 39 g

Fiber: 4.8 g

Protein: 30 g

Old Points: 6.9 pts

Points+: 8 pts

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Here are your ingredients:

Recipe adapted from Cooking Light

8 oz. uncooked Dreamfields penne (rotini would work too)

Cooking spray

1 lb. 93% lean ground beef

1/2 Tbsp olive oil

1 medium onion

5 garlic cloves, minced

3/4 tsp. salt

2 cups fat-free milk

1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes, drained

6 oz fat-free cream cheese
3/4 cup (3 oz) shredded fat-free mozzarella cheese
2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley

Preheat broiler.

Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat and drain.  Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and coat pan with cooking spray.  Add beef to pan and saute for about 5 minutes or until browned, stirring to crumble.  Remove beef from pan and drain.  Wipe pan clean with paper towels and add 1/2 tablespoon of oil to pan.  Swirl to coat then add onion.  Saute for about 4 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add garlic and saute 1 minute, stirring constantly.  Add beef; sprinkle with salt.  Stir in milk, tomatoes and cream cheese, stirring until smooth; bring to a simmer.  Cook 2 minutes or until thoroughly heated.  Stir in pasta.

Spoon pasta mixture into a 13 x 9-inch broiler-safe baking dish coated with cooking spray.  Sprinkle mozzarella evenly over top.  Broil 4 minutes or until golden.  Sprinkle with parsley and enjoy! 

Click here for a printable version of this recipe 

So I must admit, I'm reeeally excited for this coming weekend.  If any of you follow me on Facebook you know that I'm making some yummy hors d'oeuvres for my friend's wedding on Sunday!  I found some really pretty holiday recipes and I'll be sure to share those with you soon :)  I also have a fun holiday party tonight with my friends and you better believe I'm rocking my tacky Christmas sweater.

Check out these cake pops I made for the party!

Thank you pinterest!  I find myself pinning cute stuff EVERY.SINGLE.DAY and found this great idea for cake pops using marshmallows and candy canes.  I'll share the recipe next week!

Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!