Sweet Potato Pasta Bake

Sweet Potato Pasta Bake

Pasta Bake with Spiralized Sweet Potato

Hands up if you LOVE watching those Tasty videos on Facebook. Awesome, right? I love watching their speedy fingers fly as they create mouthwatering & creative creations. Maybe videos are in the future for Miss Allie’s Kitchen. We shall see.

Anyway, I feel like one of the most popular Tasty video trends are pasta bakes and casseroles. And I couldn’t agree more with their theories, honestly. Bakes are casseroles are fix it and forget it solutions for family dinners. You throw a few ingredients together, lay them in a dish, bake, forget about it until the timer beeps, and POW dinner is done.

I always get excited at the start of these videos and then my face starts to fall as I notice all of the ingredients that they typically use. Enriched pasta and gobs of cheese are usually not in my weekly meal plan. They just don’t make me feel very energized.

Healthy eating does not have to be hard, but I’ll admit, sometimes it does take a little more brain power. That’s why you have me folks. You wouldn’t believe that amount of time I spend trying to come up with recipes for you all. Yes, sometimes I even recipe create in my dreams.

Spiralized Sweet Potatoes

Ever since I received the Paderno Spiralizer as a gift from JMan’s parents (they are the bomb and this is a fantastic gift for your foodie friends) I have been all about using it. No vegetable has been left un-spiralized in my kitchen – LOL. I was in the mood for pasta but, alas, no veggies were to be found. There, all lonesome in my Lazy Susan were a bunch of sweet potatoes, begging to be repurposed. Soon, after rescuing the sad sweet potatoes I found a forgotten jar of pasta sauce.

But did I stop there –oh no no no! We had to have creamy pasta (places thinking cap on head)! Cottage cheese? Maybe, just maybe, I thought.

By now you’re probably thinking I’m a total nut job, but this is what happens when I throw dinners together, and sometimes, they’re good enough to make again & again so I can share with all of you! And right now I am BEGGING you to trust me on this sweet potato, pasta sauce, cottage cheese mash-up because it will turn into one of the best pasta bake dishes you have EVER had.

WHAT YOU’LL NEED

-Baking Dish

– Sweet Potatoes

– Lean ground meat – today I’m using a blend of deer & lean beef

– A Jar of Pasta Sauce (I like to pick brands with as little preservatives as possible)

– A can of unsalted tomato sauce

– Cottage Cheese (I like 1%-2% fat)

– Egg

– Mozzarella Cheese (you don’t need much AT ALL so if you have some leftover use it up)

– Salt

– Pepper

Optional

– Parmesan Cheese

– Parsley (for garnish)

WHAT YOU’LL DO

Okay, time to get cooking. Start by peeling and spiraling the sweet potatoes. You could try grating them as well, but I can’t speak for your results.

Continue by browning your meat. Once the meat has cooked, drain the fat and return to the burner. Add in the pasta sauce, tomato sauce, salt and pepper. Stir and turn off the heat.

Let’s take a second to talk about Cottage Cheese – Greek Yogurt’s Ugly Cousin. Super high in protein, low in fat, rich in calcium, and often forgotten about. I’m not a big fan of Ricotta cheese, but it does have its place in Italian dishes. When I created this recipe I wanted a dairy with texture, but with less fat and more nutrients than Ricotta.

You’re probably thinking that Cottage Cheese is still too chunky for this dish but don’t you worry I’m one step ahead of ya! Measure out your cottage cheese, and plop it into a fine mesh strainer. Grab a spoon and push the cottage cheese through the strainer, to cut the curds, into a bowl. You’ll have something that resembles the texture of a Ricotta now without the extra fat (think less saturated fat).

Add your egg into the bowl with the cottage cheese and whisk. The sauce is hot, so if you pour the egg and cheese right into the sauce, the egg may cook and you’ll end up with a mess. To temper the egg (or get it to a higher temp slowly so it doesn’t cook) add spoonfuls of the sauce into the bowl with the egg and cheese until it warms. Add this into the pot of sauce and stir.

Cheesy Sweet Potato Pasta

Pour the sauce onto the noodles and toss until all of the noodles have been coated. Pour everything into your greased dish. Sprinkle the dish with the mozzarella & parmesan cheese, cover with foil and place into the oven. Halfway through the baking process, remove the foil.

When you dish is bubbly and the cheese is melted, you’re good to go! To my vegetarian friends – this dish can EASILY be made without the meat to fit your preferences!

Get out there and get Sweet Potato Pasta Crazy!

xoxx,

Miss AK

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