Un-Spaghetti with Broccoli and Tomato Sauce
Vivian Howard needed to reduce the pasta carbs for her dad John, who’s watching his blood sugar. With the help of nutrition counselor Tracy Owens, Vivian’s replaced the spaghetti with broccoli, and topped it with a veggie-filled tomato sauce and sliced Parmesan.
Serves 4
Total prep & cook time: 1 hour
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 pounds ground turkey (Italian-style, if available)
- 2 medium yellow onions, diced
- 2 cups carrots, diced
- Garlic
- 2 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups baby spinach
- 2 16 ounce cans diced tomatoes
- 4 large heads of broccoli, stem trimmed
- Fresh Parmesan cheese, sliced (optional)
Directions
- In a medium skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the ground turkey and brown for 12-14 minutes. Once thoroughly cooked, remove from pan and set aside.
- Heat the skillet to medium, add onions, carrots, garlic and 2 teaspoons salt. Sauté for about 7 minutes until onions are translucent. Add carrots, onions and spinach to a blender and puree until smooth.
- Add ground turkey back to skillet. Stir in canned tomatoes and puree, simmer for 10 minutes.
- While sauce simmers, prepare the broccoli.
- In a pan fitted with a steamer basket*, add 2 inches of water and insert steamer basket. Bring the water to a boil over high-heat. When steam begins to emerge from pot, add broccoli crowns. Cover and reduce heat to medium. Steam for 15-18 minutes, once fork tender remove and place each crown on a dinner plate. Smother each crown with a generous helping of sauce. Top with fresh slices of Parmesan cheese if desired and serve.
*Note: if you don’t have a steamer, place broccoli directly in 1 inch of water to steam.
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