Cavatini Recipe {Lightened Up}

Lightened Cavatini

Love pasta? I'm  right there with you, and Cavatini ♥ a mixture of Cavatelli (shells), Rotini (spirals), and Rotelle (wheels)♥ is one of my favorites. My mom and I used to drive to the nearest Pizza Hut, which was an hour away, once a month just to eat this yummy baked casserole. I was a teenager, so it didn't matter to my waistline that Pizza Hut's Cavatini was probably not so light...

I wanted an easy healthy cavatini recipe, so I lightened up the dish by substituting lower calorie/fat ingredients. The results were delish!  This recipe is super adaptable, so change it up if you like by adding your favorite ingredients or subtracting some from this recipe.

Grab your pots and pans, and let's get cooking!

Yield: 6 servings

Cavatini Make-Over

adapted from CD Kitchen 

Ingredients

• 3 cups uncooked pasta, assorted shapes
• 1 package (4 oz. size) sliced turkey pepperoni, cut in quarters
• 1 can (4 ounce size) mushrooms, drained
• 3/4 cup sliced green bell pepper
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 jar (15 1/2 oz. size) spaghetti sauce
• 1 can (6 ounce size) tomato paste
• 1 can (8 oz. size) tomato sauce
• 1 can (6 oz. size) black olives-optional
• 1 package (4 ounce size) reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 package (8 ounce size)  low fat shredded mozzarella cheese

Preparation

1. Prepare pasta according to directions and drain. Combine the turkey pepperoni, green pepper, onion, spaghetti sauce, tomato paste and tomato sauce and the cheddar cheese in a bowl and mix well. Mix cooked pasta into the sauce mixture. 
2. Bake covered at 350° for 30-45 minutes until bubbly. Uncover and add all of the mozzarella cheese, and black olives if using, and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes until the cheese is melted.