This fiber-rich pasta dish is easy, loaded with flavor, and just plain de-licious! It has a bit of a kick but since the heat is coming from red pepper flakes you can easily adjust the amount. The very lean, turkey sausage is made from scratch using ground turkey breast and seasonings. Each skinny serving has 273 calories, 6 grams of fat, including cheese on top. I not only love this dish for a Sunday night dinner, but it’s also so quick to make, it works well for a weeknight dinner too!
Ingredients
- 1½ cups yellow, orange or red bell peppers, chopped
- 1 cup onions, chopped
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 8 ounces (½ pound) 99% fat-free ground turkey breast
- 1 tablespoon fresh garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon dry Italian seasonings
- ¼-½ teaspoon red pepper flakes, to taste (I used ¼ teaspoon)
- ¼ cup white wine, see shopping tips
- 1½ cups cherry or grape tomatoes, sliced in half
- ¾ teaspoon salt or to taste
- ½ cup fresh basil, thinly sliced
- 2 cups cooked whole-grain penne pasta (1½ cups dry, about 4 ounces)
- ¼ cup Parmesan cheese, grated shredded for topping
Instructions
- In a microwave-safe plate or bowl, add bell peppers and onions. Cook for about 3-4 minutes, until softened.
- In a large nonstick pan, add olive oil and heat. Add ground turkey and brown, stirring often for about 4 minutes, breaking into pieces. Add garlic, Italian seasonings, cooked peppers, onions, and red pepper flakes. Saute for about 2 minutes.
- Add wine (deglaze with wine), scraping up the browned bits on the bottom of pan. Simmer until liquid is reduced by half. Stir in tomatoes and continue to cook until heated for about 2 minutes. Season with a little salt.
- Remove from heat. Stir in fresh basil, cooked pasta and toss well.
- Top each serving with 1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese, if desired
Notes
Makes 4 servings (each serving, 1¼ cups and 1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese)
Food Facts
Arrabbiata means angry in Italian-the name of the sauce is due to the heat of the red pepper flakes. The sauce usually includes garlic, tomatoes, olive oil, and red pepper flakes. Sometimes sausage is added. The dish is usually served over penne pasta.
Shopping Tips
No need to use an expensive bottle of white wine for this dish. I usually buy a very inexpensive wine such as Trader Joe’s Charles Shaw wine. It’s known as the Two Buck Chuck! Reduced-sodium chicken broth can be used instead of wine.
WW Freestyle SmartPoints 4-Blue (without Parmesan cheese on top)
WW Freestyle SmartPoints 5-Blue (with Parmesan cheese on top)
WW SmartPoints 5-Green (without Parmesan cheese on top)
WW SmartPoints 6-Green (with Parmesan cheese on top)
WW POINTS PLUS 6 (without Parmesan cheese on top)
WW POINTS PLUS 7 (with Parmesan cheese on top)
Food Facts
Arrabbiata means angry in Italian-the name of the sauce is due to the heat of the red pepper flakes. The sauce usually includes garlic, tomatoes, olive oil, and red pepper flakes. Sometimes sausage is added. The dish is usually served over penne pasta.
Shopping Tips
No need to use an expensive bottle of white wine for this dish. I usually buy a very inexpensive wine such as Trader Joe’s Charles Shaw wine. It’s known as the Two Buck Chuck! Reduced-sodium chicken broth can be used instead of wine.
WW Freestyle SmartPoints 4-Blue (without Parmesan cheese on top)
WW Freestyle SmartPoints 5-Blue (with Parmesan cheese on top)
WW SmartPoints 5-Green (without Parmesan cheese on top)
WW SmartPoints 6-Green (with Parmesan cheese on top)
WW POINTS PLUS 6 (without Parmesan cheese on top)
WW POINTS PLUS 7 (with Parmesan cheese on top)
| SKINNY FACTS: for 1 serving (1¼ cups) with Parmesan cheese 273 calories, 6g fat, 2g sat. fat, 28mg chol, 21g protein, 33g carbs, 6g fiber, 340mg sodium, 1g sugar |
| FACTS: for Freestyle SmartPoints (without cheese) 140 calories, 1g sat. fat, 1g sugar, 4g protein |
Skinny Facts
Serving: 1.25cupsCalories: 273kcalCarbohydrates: 33gProtein: 21gFat: 6gSaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 28mgSodium: 340mgFiber: 6gSugar: 1gBlue Smart Points: 5Green Smart Points: 6Plus Points: 7
This recipe title says turkey sausage but recipe says ground turkey.
Wendy, you might have missed it but at the top of the recipe in my description it says, “The very lean, turkey sausage is made from scratch using ground turkey breast and seasonings.”
My best,
Nancy
When using a nonstick skillet there will be nothing to deglaze. I feel like I should have used a castiron skillet instead, the meat might have browned and I would have the bits like you described.
I always use a nonstick skillet and it works just fine. That said, a cast iron skillet would be great too, Christina. You probably need to add a little oil before browning the meat.
All the best,
Nancy
Made this for dinner this week and it was very tasty! I cooked down the bell pepper separately because otherwise it would be too crunchy. I also added some tomato paste to thicken the sauce. Delicious!
All sounds good Caitlin. Thanks for sharing!
My best,
Nancy