High Protein Baked Ziti

The nice thing about this recipe is that it makes 5 servings so it's a great dish for meal prep for lunches and or dinners! I love the Barilla Pasta because its made with Chickpeas, so higher in protein then the traditional ziti pasta, and no gums, so easier to digest then the Banza brand …. plus high in fiber!

Ingredients:

-1 egg

-110g or 1/2 cup Part Skim Ricotta OR can use cottage cheese

-150g or 2 cups diced zucchini (3 small ones)

-148g diced sweet yellow onion (one medium)

-6 oz COOKED extra lean ground turkey (weigh it cooked because macros change if raw) or use meat of choice here

-1 box or 8.8 oz of uncooked Barilla Chickpea Pasta

-1 can of hunts tomato sauce or Marinara of choice (I just used what I had on hand)

-1 TB minced garlic, 1 TB Italian seasoning, one stevia packet with salt, pepper & red pepper flakes to taste (if using a seasoned marinara sauce, no need to add extra seasonings.

*I add Mozzarella cheese to my liking when I reheat it*

Details:

-Preheat oven to 375 degrees

-In one large skillet, brown the meat with avocado spray

-As that is cooking, dice up onion and zucchini then add that in, cover with lid too steam veggies

-Start boiling a pot of water for the noodles (I did 2 less minutes then directions said so they don’t get soggy)

-After 3-5 minutes, take off lid, add sauce, garlic and seasonings if using

-Place meat and veggie mixture in a 9x13 baking dish or a round pot, stir in cooked noodles, add in egg and ricotta or cottage cheese if using that, stir

-Place in oven for 10-12 minutes, top with cheese if you wish & serve!

To log this in MyFitnessPal, search “Lifting Lex’s Baked Ziti” and it makes 5 servings (355g)

Per serving: 288 calories (6f/40c/23p) with 11g of fiber

I then add 20g of fat free mozzarella when I reheat it (or desired amount to fit macros) which adds

6 grams of protein!