Healthier Baked Ziti

Ingredients

• 1 pound ziti pasta
• 1 bunch fresh spinach , or more to taste
• 0.75 cups reduced-fat sour cream
• 1 pound Italian turkey sausage
• 1 onion , chopped
• 2 carrots , chopped
• 3 cloves garlic , minced
• 2 jars spaghetti sauce , 26 ounce
• 1 head broccoli , cut into florets
• 6 ounces smoked fresh mozzarella cheese , diced
• 0.5 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Instructions

1. 1

   Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2. 2

   Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook ziti in the boiling water, stirring occasionally until cooked through but firm to the bite, 8 minutes. Drain and transfer pasta to a bowl and toss with spinach and sour cream.

3. 3

   Heat a large skillet over medium heat; cook and stir sausage, onion, carrots, and garlic until onion is translucent and sausage is no longer pink, about 7 minutes. Add spaghetti sauce and broccoli to sausage mixture and simmer until sauce mixture is heated through, about 15 minutes.

4. 4

   Layer 1/2 of the ziti mixture into a 9x13-inch baking dish. Spread 1/2 of the fresh mozzarella cheese, 1/2 of the sauce mixture, the remaining ziti mixture, and fresh mozzarella cheese, respectively, into the baking dish. Sprinkle shredded mozzarella cheese over the dish. Cover dish with aluminum foil.

5. 5

   Bake in the preheated oven until cheeses have melted, about 20 minutes. Remove the aluminum foil and cook until top is lightly browned, about 10 minutes more.